Effect of Hydrogel S tiffness on Biological Features ofNormal and Cancer Cells

Objective: Cancer is a major challenge in the field of healthcare, which is spreading, especially in developing countries. Althoughdifferent treatments have been developed to cure it, cancercells are eventually able to resis t agains t these treatments.During tumorigenesis, the interaction between cancer cells andthe tumor micro-environment often leads to ECM s tiffness.Therefore, the aim of this s tudy is to inves tigate the effect ofs tiffness as an important mechanical parameter of ECM on theproliferation and migration of normal and cancer cells.Materials and Methods: We used alginate as a natural hydrogeldue to its desirable properties such as biocompatibility, easeof gelling, low biodegradability, negative electrical charge, andbio-inert nature to encapsulate the cells. Initially, calcium alginatebeads were prepared with two different molecular weightsof alginate, and their hydrolytic s tability was s tudied in PBS.After selecting the medium molecular weight as the appropriateoption, the calcium alginate beads with different s tiffness contentsof ۰.۷ - ۴۳.۵ kPa, were prepared through controlling thegelation time and concentration of the crosslinker.Results: Finally, the effect of hydrogels’ s tiffness on proliferationand migration of both normal and cancer fibroblas t cellswas probed by the cell encapsulation process. Both MTT andscratch assay results showed that both normal and cancer cellsshowed a good responsivity to the s tiffness of the hydrogels.Conclusion: Our results well showed that both molecularweight and s tiffness can affect the proliferation and migrationof normal and cancer cells.

Keywords:

Alginate , Cancer , Extracellular Matrix , Hydrogel , S tiffness