Stiffness-Modulation of Collagen Gels by Genipin-Crosslinking for Cell Culture.

ABSTRACT: The stiffness of extracellular matrices (ECMs) is critical for cellular functions. Therefore, modulating the stiffness of ECMs in vitro is necessary to investigate the role of stiffness in cellular phenomena. Collagen gels are widely used for cell culture matrices in vitro. However, modulation of the stiffness in collagen gels for cell culture is challenging owing to the limited knowledge of the method to increase the stiffness while maintaining low cytotoxicity. Here, we established a novel method to modulate collagen gel stiffness from 0.0292 to 12.5 kPa with low cytotoxicity. We prepared collagens with genipin, a low-cytotoxic crosslinker of amines, at different concentrations and successfully modulated the stiffness of the gels. In addition, on 10 mM genipin-mixed collagen gels (approx

SUBMITTER: Ishihara S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9957210 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature