CASES
STEM CELLS
Mesenchymal Stem Cells
CANCER CELLS
Breast Cancer
Ovarian Cancer
Colon Cancer
Prostate Cancer
CELL BIOLOGY
Fibroblasts
> Nucleus Pulposus
REGENERATIVE MEDECINE
Myoblasts
INTERVERTEBRAL DISC CELLS in 3D
- with and without serum -
Bovine nucleus pulposus cells (bNPC), from intervertebral discs, were encapsulated in degradable QGel™ matrix without RGD (REF 1004).
They were cultured for 3 weeks under either serum free culture condition (Figure 1) or in media with 10% FBS (Figure 2). In serum free conditions bNPCs present a round morphology and
start forming some sporadic clusters, while in the presence of 10% FBS in the cell culture media bNPCs show higher viability, proliferate and form large cell clusters. In both cases, bNPCs appear chondrocyte-like.
MATERIALS
- Primary bovine nucleus pulposus cells
(bNPC, passage 0)
- Approx. cell seeding density: 4 millions cells/mL gel
- QGel™ MT 3D Matrix: degr. w/o RGD (REF 1004)
- Culture medium: plain DMEM (Figure 1) and
DMEM + 10% FBS (Figure 2)
METHODS
- Encapsulating cells & casting gel discs
- Cell viability assay
REFERENCE
Case courtesy of:
Prof. Dr. Benjamin Gantenbein-Ritter
and Dr. Samantha Chan
ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research
Institute for Surgical Technology and Biomechanics, University of Bern, Switzerland.
unpublished data 2010
Figure 1: bNPCs present a normal round morphology and show some sporadic cell clusters when cultured for 3 weeks in serum-free condition in QGel™ MT 3D Matrix without RGD (REF 1004). Confocal image of bNPCs stained with Calcein AM for live cells (green) and ethidium homodimer for dead cell nuclei (red).
Figure 2: bNPCs proliferate a lot and form large cell clusters when cultured for 3 weeks in the presence of 10% FBS in the cell culture media within QGel™ MT 3D Matrix without RGD (REF 1004). Confocal image of bNPCs stained with Calcein AM for live cells (green) and ethidium homodimer for dead cell nuclei (red).
