Start of Samples Supply of Cell Culturing Substrate Using Chitosan

The National Institute for Materials Science (Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Pref.; President: Prof. Teruo Kishi) and the Tokyo Institute of Psychiatry, Tokyo Metropolitan Organization for Medical Research (Chofu City, Tokyo), Hokkaido Soda Co., Ltd. (Tomakomai City, Hokkaido), Primary Cell Co., Ltd. (Sapporo City, Hokkaido), and NOASTEC (Sapporo City, Hokkaido; official name: Northern Advancement Center for Science & Technology) succeeded in the development of a cell culturing substrate using chitosan nanofibers, and have begun supplying samples to researchers in medical and biotechnology fields, manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and others.

This cell culturing substrate is produced by fixing nanofibers with diameters of several 100nm, which are prepared from chitosan obtained by processing chitin recovered from the exoskeletons of crabs, on a 24, 48, or 96 holes well culture plate, glass cover slip with a diameter of 13mmφ, etc. The suitability of the product for adhesion/culturing of nerve cells, fat cells, and others has been confirmed

Research and development were carried out under a system of industry-university-government collaboration, in which Hokkaido Soda was responsible for the development and manufacture of the cell culturing matrix, NIMS and the Tokyo Institute of Psychiatry conducted culturing experiments with various types of cells, Primary Cell Co. produced culturing kits and made assessments for commercialization, and NOASTEC served as the secretariat of the project.

Results exceeding the existing product were obtained, including the following:

1. A cell culturing matrix which is easy to handle and does not require special treatment was successfully developed.
2. With the developed cell culturing matrix, nerve cell adhesion and growth are superior to those with the existing product, and active nerve growth can be observed.
3. In particular, the developed matrix is effective in the culturing of fat cells, as adhesion for an extended period of time is possible. As a result, the new product has the potential for application to metabolic-related research.
4. The developed matrix enables culturing of dorsal root ganglia (DRG) grafts, which is difficult with the conventional product.

As an example of these results, with nerve cells, it was possible to achieve satisfactory culturing not only of general cells, but also of adult mouse DRG grafts, which had been considered comparatively difficult. This performance is exemplified by extremely good outgrowth of DRG neurons in comparison with products coated with collagen type I and poly-L-lysine, which are similar functional culturing matrixes.

In culturing of rat primary visceral cells, which tend to peel off as fat accumulation progresses, long-term culturing after fat accumulation was successful, and cell adhesion to the matrix was also satisfactory.

Therefore, to ensure that potential scientific and commercial users are aware of the effectiveness of this matrix, the developers will supply samples of the matrix to a large number of researchers in the medical and biotechnology fields, drug and cosmetic makers, testing and research organizations, and others free of charge, under the following conditions.

A trial-manufactured prototype of the matrix was developed by the FY2005-2006 Consortium R&D Project for Regional Revitalization, "Development of Nerve Regeneration Promotion Type Matrix using Chitosan Fiber" of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Subsequently, an assessment of the culturing matrix and improvements based on that assessment were carried out using a research grant under the commissioned project “Innovation Creation by Shared Use of Advanced Facilities Project – ‘Nanotechnology Network’” of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), reaching the current stage of supply of samples.