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Updated: Jul 15, 2025
Fabrication of Inverted Colloidal Crystal Polyethylene glycol Scaffold: A Three-dimensional Cell Culture Platform for Liver Tissue Engineering
Published on: August 27, 2016
Development of Polyethylene Glycol-based Hydrogels Optimized for In Vitro 3D Culture of HepG2 Hepatocarcinoma Cells
Young Jae Lee1, Keun Cheon Kim2, Jeong Min Lee3
1Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Background/Aim:
We report an in vitro three-dimensional (3D) culture system optimized for the growth of HepG2 hepatocarcinoma cells.
Materials And Methods:
The 3D culture system was fabricated based on polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based hydrogels; their mechanical strength was controlled by differences in the arm number and concentration of PEG-vinylsulfone. Moreover, cellular growth was evaluated after culturing HepG2 cells in PEG-based hydrogels with various mechanical strengths.
Results:
HepG2 cell culture in the 3D PEG-based hydrogels induced the formation of spherical colonies. Moreover, the highest number of spherical colonies formed from HepG2 cells at the single-cell level, and the formation of spherical colonies with a uniform size was observed in HepG2 cells cultured in 5% (w/v) 8-arm PEG-based hydrogels.
Conclusion:
5% (w/v) 8-arm PEG-based hydrogels may be developed as a 3D culture system optimized for stimulating the in vitro growth of HepG2 cells.
