A polyethylene glycol-based hydrogel as macroporous scaffold for tumorsphere formation of glioblastoma multiforme

We report a formation of macroporous scaffold which is based on polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based alginate (ALG) interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) hydrogel. Using this scaffold, we assess the tumorsphere (TS)-forming ability of glioma cancer stem cells (gCSCs), which subpopulation has been highlighted as a main cause of therapeutic resistance due to self-renewal and potential of differentiation properties. Although there have been numerous methods to study the TSs, however, there is no plausible method to evaluate the formation of single gCSC cell-derived TSs, due to fusion-induced cell aggregation. To provide reliable assessment, the PEGDA hydrogel interpenetrated with ALG was fabricated as macroporous scaffold for TS formation of patient-derived gCSCs. With UV-ionic dual crosslinking process, the pore size of PEGDA-ALG hydrogel is magnified enough to be applied as a macroporous scaffold, providing increased internal voids for TS growth and expansion. As a result, within macroporous scaffold, the multiple number of single gCSC-derived TSs was successfully formed inside the structural voids.