title: Beyond bread and beer: whole cell protein extracts from baker's yeast as a bulk source for 3D cell culture matrices.
abstract: Here, we present a novel approach to form hydrogels from yeast whole cell protein. Countless hydrogels are available for sophisticated research, but their fabrication is often difficult to reproduce, with the gels being complicated to handle or simply too expensive. The yeast hydrogels presented here are polymerized using a four-armed, amine reactive crosslinker and show a high chemical and thermal resistance. The free water content was determined by measuring swelling ratios for different protein concentrations, and in a freeze-drying approach, pore sizes of up to 100 μm in the gel could be created without destabilizing the 3D network. Elasticity was proofed to be adjustable with the help of atomic force microscopy by merely changing the amount of used protein. Furthermore, the material was tested for possible cell culture applications; diffusion rates in the network are high enough for sufficient supply of human breast cancer cells and adenocarcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial cells with nutrition, and cells showed high viabilities when tested for compatibility with the material. Furthermore, hydrogels could be functionalized with RGD peptide and the optimal concentration for sufficient cell adhesion was determined to be 150 μM. Given that yeast protein is one of the cheapest and easiest available protein sources and that hydrogels are extremely easy to handle, the developed material has highly promising potential for both sophisticated cell culture techniques as well as for larger scale industrial applications.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Peptide Pharmaceuticals, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bodenberger
authors.affiliation: Centre for Peptide Pharmaceuticals, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kubiczek
authors.affiliation: Institute of Experimental Physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.affiliation: Centre for Peptide Pharmaceuticals, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Nico
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Preising
authors.affiliation: Centre for Peptide Pharmaceuticals, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.affiliation: Bioprocess Engineering, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Ramona
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bosch
authors.affiliation: Bioprocess Engineering, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hausmann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Experimental Physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Kay-Eberhard
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Gottschalk
authors.affiliation: Centre for Peptide Pharmaceuticals, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany. Frank.Rosenau@uni-ulm.de.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rosenau
mesh_terms: D000072283:A549 Cells; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival; D005612:Freeze Drying; D006801:Humans; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry; D058105:Polymerization; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels; D009842:Oligopeptides; C047981:arginyl-glycyl-aspartic acid
keywords: 3D cell culture; Eukaryotic cells; Hydrogel; Yeast