Reporter: Danut Dragoi, PhD
As we know only magnetic materials can be magnetized in a magnetic field, the culture cells don’t. However, n3D company found a way to do so. On their site, the company states that bio-medical research is gravitating towards 3D cell culture models and tissue printing. There are four major development of n3D company:
- magnetization of cells
- NaanoShuttle, a bio-compatible nano-particle assembly
- spheroids bio-printing to print
- 3Dcell culture to design and implement assays development and lab protocols
They sell kits and services for 3D cell culture. The core technology is the magnetization of cells, which can then be directed using magnetic forces. In this manner, the cells can be levitated or bio-printed. These cultures are faster to assemble than other systems that require a substrate and easier to handle with magnets without losing samples.
One Trade Secret made by n3D is the NanoShuttle, a bio compatible nano-particle assembly of gold, iron oxide, and poly-L-lysine. A description of poly-lysine is given here . The iron oxide, Fe3O4 (Magnetite), is the only component that magnetizes and the nano-particle assembly of gold, iron oxide, and poly-L-lysine attach to the cell membranes. The physical attachment of the nano-assembly to the membrane of the cell is electrostatic in nature and is non-specific to the type of cells. No effect has been seen on proliferation, viability, metabolism, inflammatory or oxidation stress. By 7-8 days, the NanoShuttle will release off the cell and into the extracellular space of the culture.
One of the limiting factors in 3D cell culture can be the throughput and the efficiency. n3D make kits for magnetic 3D bio-printing to print spheroids in 384-well plates rapidly (15 min – 6 h) and reproducible with as few as 50 cells. It saves time and cost compared to other spheroid systems. This system is also ideal for high-content screening, with the iPod-based BiO Assay for toxicity, and fluorescence and other cell-based assays for function. Some results with HepG2 hepatocites are shown in the same site.
The design and the implementation of the assays development and lab protocols is clearly an advantage on 3D cell culture. If we are worried about the time and cost of implementing, the n3D offers services in assay development, where they use a rich expertise in 3D cell culture to design and implement assays and protocols in a Biolab. They can work with any cell type to design assays to exact specifications and throughput, and compare these assays to the existing 2D assays. The goal is to help to transition from 2D to 3D with ease.
VIDEO
Hubert Tseng of Nano3D company explains how the concept of magnetization of cells works in here.
One important tool in a BioLab is the n3D’s MagPenTM that is used to transfer, collect, organize, or layer magnetic 3D cultures without disrupting the tissue architecture. The MagPenTM uses a simple “pick-up-and-drop” method to reliably move cultures between microscope slides, petri dishes, and well plates. The instruction manual for MagPen can be found here . More details how to use MagPen is given here
Source
http://www.n3dbio.com/ , downloaded 01/02/2016
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