Effect of supramolecular peptide hydrogel scaffold charge on HepG2 viability and spheroid formation

Xin, Yu; Ligorio, Cosimo; O’brien, Marie; Collins, Richard; Dong, Siyuan; Miller, Aline F.; Saiani, Alberto; Gough, Julie E.

Abstract

Supramolecular bioinspired self-assembling peptide hydrogel (SAPH) scaffolds represent a class of fully defined synthetic materials whose chemical and mechanical properties can be finely engineered. In this study, the relationship between SAPHs physicochemical properties and HepG2 cells viability, spheroid formation and function are discussed. We first report that negatively charged SAPHs promote hepatocyte proliferation and spheroids formation in vitro 3D culture while positively charged SAPHs lead to hepatocyte death irrespective of the hydrogel mechanical properties. More specifically HepG2 cultured in 3D in E(FKFE)2 negatively charged SAPH maintained a differentiated phenotype and assembled into well-defined spheroids with strong cell–cell interactions. Furthermore, HepG2 spheroids responded to acetaminophen exposure with upregulation of key CYP450 enzymes expression clearly showing their potential for drug toxicity testing. These findings demonstrate how fine-tuned functional SAPH scaffolds can be used to identify key scaffolds parameters affecting cells. In this case we demonstrated the potential of negatively charged SAPHs for the 3D culture of HepG2 with potential applications in drug screening.

Citation

Xin, Y., Ligorio, C., O’brien, M., Collins, R., Dong, S., Miller, A. F., Saiani, A., & Gough, J. E. (2024). Effect of supramolecular peptide hydrogel scaffold charge on HepG2 viability and spheroid formation. Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 12(48), 12553–12566. https://doi.org/10.1039/d4tb01701c

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 22, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Oct 24, 2025
• Publication Date: Dec 28, 2024
• Deposit Date: Apr 30, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: May 1, 2025
• Journal: Journal of Materials Chemistry B
• Print ISSN: 2050-750X
• Electronic ISSN: 2050-7518
• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 48
• Pages: 12553–12566
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d4tb01701c
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/41823602
• Publisher URL: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2024/tb/d4tb01701c