Sensing Cells-Peptide Hydrogel Interaction In Situ via Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy

Tatiana N Tikhonova; Vasilii S Kolmogorov; Roman V Timoshenko; Alexander N Vaneev; Dana Cohen-Gerassi; Liubov A Osminkina; Petr V Gorelkin; Alexander S Erofeev; Nikolay N Sysoev; Lihi Adler-Abramovich; Evgeny A Shirshin

doi:10.3390/cells11244137

Sensing Cells-Peptide Hydrogel Interaction In Situ via Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy

Cells. 2022 Dec 19;11(24):4137. doi: 10.3390/cells11244137.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1/2, 119991 Moscow, Russia.
² Laboratory of Biophysics, National University of Science and Technology "MISiS", 4 Leninskiy Prospekt, 119049 Moscow, Russia.
³ Department of Chemistry, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1/3, 119991 Moscow, Russia.
⁴ Department of Oral Biology, The Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, The Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, The Center for the Physics and Chemistry of Living Systems, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
⁵ World-Class Research Center "Digital Biodesign and Personalized Healthcare", Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, 8-2 Trubetskaya St., 119991 Moscow, Russia.

Abstract

Peptide-based hydrogels were shown to serve as good matrices for 3D cell culture and to be applied in the field of regenerative medicine. The study of the cell-matrix interaction is important for the understanding of cell attachment, proliferation, and migration, as well as for the improvement of the matrix. Here, we used scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM) to study the growth of cells on self-assembled peptide-based hydrogels. The hydrogel surface topography, which changes during its formation in an aqueous solution, were studied at nanoscale resolution and compared with fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). Moreover, SICM demonstrated the ability to map living cells inside the hydrogel. A zwitterionic label-free pH nanoprobe with a sensitivity > 0.01 units was applied for the investigation of pH mapping in the hydrogel to estimate the hydrogel applicability for cell growth. The SICM technique that was applied here to evaluate the cell growth on the peptide-based hydrogel can be used as a tool to study functional living cells.

Keywords: cells; fibrillation; hydrogel; peptide self-assembly; reactive oxygen species; regenerative medicine; scanning ion conductance microscopy.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cytosol
Hydrogels*
Ions
Microscopy, Fluorescence
Peptides*

Substances

Hydrogels
Peptides
Ions

Grants and funding

The work was performed employing unique scientific facility “Scanning ion-conductance microscope with a confocal module” (registration number 2512530), and was financially supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Agreement No. 075-15-2022-264.