Gamma ray and e-beam irradiation provided efficient sterilization of certain self-assembling peptides (including RADA16 in solution) without substantial degradation of the major peptide, while, e.g., another self-assembly peptide, QLEL12 was significantly degraded following irradiation. Irradiation sterilization enhances the rheological property of, for example, RADA16 hydrogel once applied to tissue at a physiological pH. The rheological property increase can result in higher efficacy in a variety of biomedical applications.

A composite material film for expanding circulating tumor cells ex vivo and a preparation method thereof, a kit and a method for expanding circulating tumor cells ex vivo, a method for detecting an effect of a drug, and a cryopreservation solution are provided. The preparation method includes: mixing one or more kinds of particles and a solvent to form a mixed liquid, in which the particles are selected from the group consisting of metal particles, metal oxide particles, silicon oxide particles and combinations thereof; placing the mixed liquid on a substrate to form a particle layer; adding a medium material to the particle layer, in which the medium material is selected from the group consisting of styrene and its derivatives, polyester monomers, silicon oxide compounds and combinations thereof; and polymerizing the medium material to form a medium layer to fix the particle layer on the substrate.

Provided is a 3D human liver organ model constructing method, comprising: preparing human primary liver cells, or mixed cells of same and liver non-parenchymal cells, or human liver cancer cell lines into a single cell suspension, and mixing the single cell suspension with a matrix material to obtain a mixed cell suspension; inoculating the mixed cell suspension into cultivation micropores of a 3D organ-on-a-chip, and carrying out cultivation at 37° C. to obtain a gelled 3D organ-on-a-chip; adding a culture medium into liquid storage holes of the organ-on-a-chip, and carrying out cultivation to obtain a 3D human liver organ model. Compared with other 2D human liver organ models, the constructed 3D human liver organ model has significantly enhanced response sensitivity to hepatotoxic drugs, and shows stronger hepatotoxic damage effect for reported hepatotoxic drugs. Compared with an animal model, the 3D human liver organ model can effectively eliminate the screening difference caused by species difference.

A drug screening platform simulating hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy including a dielectrophoresis system, a microfluidic chip and a heating system is disclosed. The dielectrophoresis system is used to provide a dielectrophoresis force. The microfluidic chip includes a cell culture array and observation module and a drug mixing module. The cell culture array and observation module are used to arrange the cells into a three-dimensional structure through the dielectrophoresis force to construct a three-dimensional tumor microenvironment. The drug mixing module is coupled to the cell culture array and observation module and used to automatically split and mix the inputted drugs and output the drug combinations into the cell culture array and observation module. The heating system is used for real-time temperature sensing and heating control of the drug combinations on the microfluidic chip to simulate high-temperature drug environment when performing hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy on the three-dimensional tumor microenvironment.

The present invention provides differentiated neural cells and methods for making differentiated neural cells from pluripotent stem cells (PSC) at an industrial scale sufficient for high-throughput assays. The methods of the invention allow billions of PSCs and/or neural cells differentiated from the PSCs to be cryopreserved and expanded at multiple steps.

A plant fat-based scaffold for growing cell-based meat products for consumption. The scaffold comprises primarily plant fats or waxes in addition to cell binding proteins and optional additional components that assist in the growth of cultivated animal cells. The scaffold can exist in both a liquified state during sterilization and a solid state during the formation of the scaffold, the seeding of the cultivated cells, and the cellular growth phase. The scaffold is capable of remaining in the final product for consumption or is partially or completely melted out of the final product and recycled into raw material for forming new scaffolds.

The present application relates to a composition, which comprises: (a) a photopolymerizable substance; (b) a thiol; (c) a photoinitiator; (d) a thermosensitive polymer; and (e) water, and can be used as a bio-ink for preparing a bio-hydrogel for direct-writing 3D printing. The present invention further relates to a method for preparing the composition, and a direct-writing 3D printing method using the composition.

A composition includes porous silica particles to carry a cell fate modulating factor therein. A method for modulating cell fate includes treating various cells with the composition. The cell fate modulating factor is delivered to a stable target receptor, toxicity to subject cells for delivery may be reduced, a fate of the subject cells can be controlled through sustained release of at least 99 wt. % of the cell fate modulating factor.

There is provided a cell culture matrix comprising a fungal derived protein. Also provided is a composition comprising the cell culture matrix as described herein, a cell culture system comprising the cell culture matrix as described herein, and a method of forming a cell culture matrix thereof.

An array platform for three-dimensional cell culturing and drug testing and screening is disclosed. In the array platform, a hydrogel-cell mixture injection area is configured to inject a plurality of kinds of hydrogel-cell mixtures. Cell observation areas are connected to the hydrogel-cell mixture injection area. Electrodes are disposed under the cell observation areas and automatic cell quantification and three-dimensional cell co-arrangement of the plurality of kinds of hydrogel-cell mixtures in the cell observation areas through the electrodes to imitate a structure of body's tissues. A drug injection area is configured to inject a plurality of kinds of drugs. Drug combination generators respectively correspond to the cell observation areas and are connected to the drug injection area. Each drug combination generator has a microfluidic channel structure and configured to generate drug combinations according to the plurality of kinds of drugs.