title: Supramolecular Nanofibrillar Thermoreversible Hydrogel for Growth and Release of Cancer Spheroids.
abstract: Growth of three-dimensional cancer spheroids (CSs) in man-made hydrogels mimicking natural extracellular matrix is an important and challenging task. Herein, we report on a supramolecular temperature-responsive hydrogel designed for the growth and subsequent release of CSs. A filamentous hydrogel was formed at 37 °C from an aqueous suspension of cellulose nanocrystals surface-functionalized with temperature-responsive polymer molecules. The encapsulation of cells in the hydrogel enabled effective growth of CSs with dimensions determined by the concentration of cellulose nanocrystals in the hydrogel. On demand release of CSs without loss of cell viability and spheroid integrity was achieved upon hydrogel cooling. The tumorigenic properties of the released CSs were examined by encapsulating and re-growing them in fibrin hydrogel. The results in this work can be used in fundamental cancer research and in cancer drug screening.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 Saint George street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3H6, Canada.
authors.forename: Yunfeng
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6520-8561
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 Saint George street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3H6, Canada.
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khuu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 Saint George street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3H6, Canada.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gevorkian
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 Saint George street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3H6, Canada.
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarjinsky
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 Saint George street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3H6, Canada.|Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Heloise
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Therien-Aubin
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 Saint George street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3H6, Canada.
authors.forename: Yihe
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 Saint George street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3H6, Canada.
authors.forename: Sangho
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9627-5310
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 Saint George street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3H6, Canada.|Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3E5, Canada.|The Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, 4 Taddle Creek Road, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G9, Canada.
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kumacheva
mesh_terms: D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D018874:Spheroids, Cellular / Q000166:cytology*
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels; D002482:Cellulose
keywords: cancer spheroids; cell release; cellulose nanocrystals; nanofibrillar hydrogel; thermoreversible polymer