South Korean researchers from Pohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH) have developed a new cell culture membrane that recreates not only the tissue-specific components of the intestine but also its soft physical environment.
This new development provides cells with an environment that more closely resembles the intestine and does away with conventional culture platforms made of synthetic materials which are far stiffer than original intestinal tissues.
Synthetic materials fail to fully reproduce the tissue-specific extracellular matrix (ECM), and while the cells may represent the intestine, the environment in which they grow does not.
The researchers integrated both biochemical signals and physical cues into a single culture membrane. Using electrospinning, they first fabricated an ultrathin nanofibrous scaffold composed of fibers far thinner than a human hair, then incorporated decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) derived from porcine colon tissue, from which cellular components had been removed while preserving extracellular matrix components.
The study recently published online in Advanced Healthcare Materials, found that the new membrane allows cells to experience a microenvironment that more closely resembles their physiological surroundings.
This helps bridge the gap between conventional synthetic culture substrates and native intestinal tissue, opening scope as a next-generation platform for intestinal disease research, drug evaluation, and studies of interactions between the gut microbiota and intestinal tissue.