Engineering of a novel 3-dimensional glioblastoma cell culture system

Glioblastoma (GBM) is considerably aggressive, lethal, and has a poor prognosis. The therapies applying for GBM often fail because of the invasiveness and heterogeneity of the tumor. In addition, there are many molecular alterations responsible for the drug resistance mechanisms that hinder the success of treatment. Therefore, investigating these mechanisms and understanding GBM biology is crucial for developing new treatments. 3D GBM cell culture models can be used to study GBM biology and drug resistance mechanism. In this study, it is aimed to establish a novel 3D GBM cell culture model to investigate the drug resistance mechanism and to understand the tumor biology of GBM. For this purpose, pHEMA-gelatin-based cryogels were synthesized at 3 different cryogelation temperatures (-12 oC, -16 oC, and -20 oC) and with 3 different gelatin concentrations (0.2g, 0.3g, 0.4g). The characterization studies of cryogels and in vitro cell studies were performed. According to the analyses performed, all of the synthesized cryogels were found suitable for use as scaffolds in terms of porosity, swelling characteristics, and non-cytotoxicity. To investigate the drug responses of GBM cells, a pHEMA-gelatin-based cryogel synthesized at -16 oC with 0,4 g gelatin concentration was preferred because it gave the best cell viability results. It was observed that the GBM cells showed greater resistance to drugs than 2D cultured cells, similar to in vivo conditions.