There are several products today for 3D cell culture and many could be considered as “hydrogels”. In this short article, we explain differences between BIOMIMESYS® and hydrogels to help you to choose the right product for your very specific needs.
In 3D cell cultures, many hydrogels could be used like the well-known Matrigel®, or Geltrex™. Such basement membrande-derived hydrogels have specific compositions and physico-chemical, biochemical properties, and a defined range of usages. Below, you can find the main differences between them and BIOMIMESYS®, for you to choose the product you need.
Of course if you want more specific details, please contact us.
| Basement membrane-derived hydrogel | BIOMIMESYS® | |
|---|---|---|
| Biochemical features | Thermosensitive hydrogel | Hydroscaffold™ with a dual behavior (hydrogel + solid scaffold), as the native ECM (extracellular matrix) |
| Source | Secreted extracellular matrix proteins, purified from murine Engelbreth-Holm-Swarm (EHS) tumor cells | Native ECM components: hyaluronic acid secreted by bacteria + collagens from rat tail or of human origin, adhesion peptides or proteins (RGDS peptides) and other ECM components, upon request |
| Composition & reproducibility (batch-to-batch) | Includes laminin, collagen IV, heparin sulfate proteoglycans, and entactin/nidogen + growth factors. The composition varies from one batch to another (lot-specific protein concentration). | Composition depends on the reference, since BIOMIMESYS is an organ/tissue-specific matrix (BIOMIMESYS Liver, Adipose Tissue, Brain, and Oncology (generic). Since it is chemically mastered, the composition is stable from one lot to another. |
| Transportation | On dry ice | At room temperature |
| Handling | Viscous solution that needs to be slowly thawed on ice, aliquoted and then handled at 4°C. Need for RT to polymerize. | Ready-to-use in your cell culture vessel => Minimal handling: no need to aliquot, polimerize… |
| Storage | At -20°C | At 4°C |
| Porosity | <10 µm1 | Average porosity is around 100-150 µM: cells diffuse in the matrix |
| How the cells are in there? | Cells are encapsulated in the hydrogel. | Cells diffuse in the matrix since it is porous, then they can nest and develop inside. The high porosity facilitates the diffusion of gaz and nutrients. |
| Optical properties | Transparent | Translucent |
| Format of the cell culture vessel | All formats, but you do it yourself | All formats, but we cast BIOMIMESYS for you |
| Long-term 3D cell culture | Need to add some hydrogel along time in the culture medium, since not stable along time | BIOMIMESYS is stable along time (nothing to add) |
| Stiffness | Cannot be adjusted over a large range (maximum 300 Pa2) | Controlled stiffness, possibility to choose different elastic moduli (from 100 Pa to 16 kPa, depending on your organ/tissue of interest). Can be tailored upon request. |
| Possibility to take out the matrix together with the cells from the plate | No, they are stuck there until the end of the experiment. | Yes, you can take the matrix (with cells within) with a clamp and move it (for example to put it on a glass slide…) |
| Bioactivity | Presence of tumoral growth factors (decreased in growth-factor-reduced versions) | No growth factors, except the ones your cells will secrete within or that you add to your culture (you completely master this aspect). |
1 Zhang S, Altman M, Aggeli A, Boden N. Self-assembling Peptide Systems in Biology and Biomedical Engineering. In 2007. p. 343‑60.
2 https://www.corning.com/catalog/cls/documents/application-notes/CLS-AC-AN-449.pdf
Please feel free to contact us here for any question about BIOMIMESYS, we will be able to propose to you the right product for your needs!
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