Grant: Idea to Innovation

Most commercial cell culture materials for disease research, drug discovery/efficacy and toxicology assays,stem cell/organ engineering, are 2D functionalized surfaces. However, they are known to promote cell flattening, resulting in significant cell behavior differences as compared to their in vivo environment. To overcome this problem, 3D porous, functionalized hydrogel materials for cell culture have started to appear on the market. Such materials will provide, for examples, more physiologically relevant tools for drug screening assays for Alzheimer disease, or cardiac pathologies. A commercially viable process should yield biocompatible materials, with precise control over their 3D microstructure - pore size distribution, volume fraction, pore interconnectivity to ease cell seeding and to enhance mass transport (nutrients, growth factors, O2, wastes, etc.), and with functionalized pore surface to promote cell adhesion, survival and differentiation. The process should be scalable, allow sterilization, and long-term storage. Meeting all of these requirements is a challenge. To the best of our knowledge, there is no such material on the market. The main objective of this I2I 1A project is to assess the commercial potential of a new technology developed in our laboratory for the design and preparation of 3D microstructured, functionalized porous alginate gels for cell culture applications, demonstrated herein with mesenchymal stem cells that will differentiate into neurons (for Alzheimer research) or cardiomyocytes (for research on healing of cardiac tissues injuries). The process uses commercial processing polymer equipment to prepare cocontinuous polymer blends, used to prepare porous polymers into which alginate hydrogels are molded. Extraction of the molds yields porous alginate gels. Our process allows control over gel porosity: (i) 40-60% pore fraction; (ii) 10 to 500 microns average pore size; (iii) fully interconnected pores. The specific objectives are (1) to optimize the preparation of porous alginate gels; (2) to optimize gel functionalization; (3) to evaluate their performance for cell seeding, adhesion, survival and differentiation; (4) to develop sterilization/storage procedures; (5) to assess the commercial potential of the process and materials.