technology noviogel
The most basic units of life are cells. An adult is comprised of trillions of cells. Many diseases are related to cells, for example cancer cells with their uncontrolled cell growth. Stem cells are "unspecialized" cells in your body, which divide and become specialized cells such as liver cells, muscle cells, blood cells, or other cells. Therefore, stem cells are an exciting area in medicine because of their potential to regenerate and repair damaged tissue.
At the moment, several studies are ongoing in which design materials are used to induce stem cell differentiation within a 3D environment. However, it is very difficult to form three-dimensional artificial tissues similar to the structurally complex tissue within the human body due to the technical limits in biomaterials. Drawbacks of the current matrices are poor reproducibility due to changes in composition between batches, animal origin and harsh method to recover cells from the matrix.
Polyisocyanopeptide (PIC) hydrogel is a new class of advanced polymers. The complex chemistry of the polymer allows the organization into a helix-like structure that is similar to the conformation of collagen, abundantly present in the extracellular matrix (structure around cells).
PIC hydrogel is an improved platform for cell studies, because it combines the unique benefits of natural and synthetic biomaterials. PIC hydrogels uniquely perform like collagen, while possessing the same characteristics as other commercial hydrogels. Furthermore, it is fully reversible thermo sensitive, cells can be easy recovered and downstream processing after culturing is straightforward.
The unique combination of tunable biofunctionality and biomechanics of the PIC hydrogels makes them excellent matrices for 3D stem cell culture or regenerative medicine.
In addition, PIC has a strain stiffness that increases under applied force, thereby enabling hydrogel strain stiffness modulation according to the needs of each cell type. Hereby, PIC hydrogels create a cellular microenvironment with the right mechanical cues to control cell expansion and differentiation.
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Advantages of PIC hydrogel |
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No batch to batch variation - because of synthetic origin |
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Excellent cell growth and differentiation |
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Represents biomechanical properties similar to natural matrices - same elasticity as collagen |
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Easy to use - reversible thermosensitive: |
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Biofunctionality - by clicking (growth) factor of choice to the polymer |
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Non-toxic |
Noviocell will build upon its synthetic PIC hydrogels and develop them into easy-to-use solutions.
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Drawbacks Natural matrices |
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Batch to batch variation - their exact composition cannot be defined |
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Pathogen transmission and immunogenicity |
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Technical challenges in handling - difficulties in cell or organoid isolation |
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Technical challenges with downstream processing after culturing - imaging |
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Experimental inertness - inability to experimentally vary composition |
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Due to their composition, they cannot be used for regenerative medicine |
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Drawbacks other Synthetic matrices |
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Do not adequately represent the complicated extracellular matrix |
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Limited cell growth and differentiation |
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Technical challenges in handling - difficulties in cell or organoid isolation |
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Technical challenges with downstream processing after culturing - imaging |