원문정보
초록
영어
This study describes formation of Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel nanofibers via electrospinning, which can be used as a scaffold for 3-dimensional cell culture system.
Currently, most of in vitro cell-based assays for drug screening and toxicity evaluation were
performed using cells adhered on the 2-dimensional substrates. However, in a 2-dimensional system, cells are in an unnatural environment; I.e., in tissue they exist in a 3-dimensional hydrogel nanofiber matrix consisting of proteins and polysaccharides (i.e., the extracellular matrix). As a result, the response of these cells to drug candidates may be very different than that of the same cells in their native tissue. To overcome thes problems and mimic the native tissue, PEG hydrogel nanofiber was prepared by electrospinning PEG precursor solution containing poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and thermal or photo-initiators. Without PEO, electrospinning of PEG solution produced microsphere instead of fiber due to low viscosity. Addition of high molecular weight of PEO made it possible to create nanofiber and resultant nanofiber was crosslinked thermally or photochemically to prevent dissolution of nanofiber in aqueous environment. Formation of PEG hydrogel nanofiber was confirmed using SEM and other characterization including water content and mechanical strength were carried out varying the molecular weight of PEG.