Choice of Capping Group in Tripeptide Hydrogels Influences Viability in the Three-Dimensional Cell Culture of Tumor Spheroids

Jonathan P Wojciechowski; Adam D Martin; Alexander F Mason; Christopher M Fife; Sharon M Sagnella; Maria Kavallaris; Pall Thordarson

doi:10.1002/cplu.201600464

Choice of Capping Group in Tripeptide Hydrogels Influences Viability in the Three-Dimensional Cell Culture of Tumor Spheroids

Chempluschem. 2017 Mar;82(3):383-389. doi: 10.1002/cplu.201600464. Epub 2016 Dec 7.

Authors

Jonathan P Wojciechowski^{1

2}, Adam D Martin^{1

2}, Alexander F Mason^{1

2}, Christopher M Fife^{2

3}, Sharon M Sagnella^{2

3}, Maria Kavallaris^{2

3}, Pall Thordarson^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemistry, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
² The Australian Centre for Nanomedicine and the, ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
³ Tumour Biology and Targeting Program, Children's Cancer Institute, Lowy Cancer Research Centre, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.

PMID: 31962021
DOI: 10.1002/cplu.201600464

Abstract

Two peptide-derived low-molecular-weight gelators bearing different capping groups, 9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl (Fmoc) and phenothiazine, were synthesized and their gel networks were characterized. The variation of the N-terminal capping group affects the viability of these hydrogels as a three-dimensional cell culture for multicellular tumor spheroids. These results indicate that the phenothiazine capping group is a more biocompatible alternative to the widely used Fmoc moiety.

Keywords: cytotoxicity; gels; peptides; self-assembly; tumor spheroids.

Abstract

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