3D microgel with extensively adjustable stiffness and homogeneous microstructure for metastasis analysis of solid tumor  

作　　者：Xiaonan Zheng Ying Hou Qiang Zhang Yajing Zheng Zengnan Wu Xueji Zhang Jin-Ming Lin 

机构地区：[1]Laboratory of Bioengineering and Sensing Technology,Research Center for Bioengineering and Sensing Technology,School of Chemistry&Biological Engineering,University of Science and Technology Beijing,Beijing 100083,China [2]Beijing Key Laboratory of Microanalytical Methods and Instrumentation,Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Phosphorus Chemistry and Chemical Biology(Ministry of Education),Department of Chemistry,Tsinghua University,Beijing 100084,China [3]School of Biomedical Engineering,Health Science Centre,Shenzhen University,Shenzhen 518060,China

出　　处：《Chinese Chemical Letters》2023年第11期243-247,共5页中国化学快报（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.22034005,81973569,and 21621003).

摘　　要：3D microgels with various mechanical properties have been important platforms tumor metastasis analysis,and widely adjustable stiffness is crucial for deeper researches.Herein,by mixing biodegradable polylactic acid(PLA)nanofibers in the modified alginate with different concentrations of Ca^(2+),we significantly enhance the stiffness range of microgels while retaining the pore size,which provides bionic microenvironment for tumor analysis.As a proof of concept,we simulated the mechanical characteristics of breast tumors by encapsulating cells in 3D microgels with diverse stiffness,and analyzed cellular behaviors of two typical breast cancer cell lines:MCF-7 and SUM-159.Results showed that with the addition of 2.0%(w/v)PLA short nanofibers,the Young’s modulus of modified alginate increased more than three-fold.Besides preserving high survival and proliferation rates,both cells also displayed stronger migration ability in soft microgel spheres,where RT-qPCR analysis revealed the underlying changes at the genetic level.This systematic study demonstrated our method is powerful for creating widely adjustable 3D mechanical microenvironment,and the results of cellular behavior analysis shows its promising application prospects in tumorigenesis and progression.

关 键 词：Extracellular matrix stiffness Composite hydrogel Polylactic acid(PLA) NANOFIBERS Metastasis analysis Breast cancer 

分 类 号：R73[医药卫生—肿瘤]