Tissue regeneration has emerged as a promising novel therapy for various disease conditions. A key requirement for the implementation of this advanced approach is the efficient and reproducible growth of 3-dimentional (3D) cell cultures, which can serve as a reliable model for human tissues. State-of-the-art 3D culture media support the growth of such cultures, yet exhibit several important disadvantages, including low reproducibility and limited modularity. Moreover, while several human tissues are known to require piezoelectric signals, namely electrical stimulation of the cells induced by a mechanical stimulus, no commercial piezoelectric media are currently available.
This project aims to develop PiezoGel, a biocompatible, reproducible, controllable and piezoelectric medium for 3D cell cultures. The newly-designed medium will be based on two components, both composed of self-assembled peptide structures. The first is a peptide capable of forming a hydrogel which serves as a cell-supporting scaffold. The second is a peptide which forms an efficient piezoelectric structure. Within the scope of the project, we identified the best peptide suitable to serve as each of the components and fabricated co-assembled hydrogels using different ratios of the two peptides. We further analyzed the piezoelectric performance of the fabricated gels, as well as their mechanical properties which are known to influence the growth and function of various cell types. Finally, we could utilize of the fabricated gels as matrices for cell growth, resulting in high cell viability and thereby demonstrating the non-toxic nature of the newly-designed gels. Our future efforts will focus on testing the growth of additional cell types on our gels and applying mechanical stimulus to induce electrical stimulation of the cells. We envision diverse applications for the PiezoGel technology, including establishing 3D cell cultures as drug development platforms, basic research exploration, and further advancement of the tissue regeneration field.
