Greiner Bio-One NanoShuttle-PL for magnetic 3D cell culture

The core technology of Greiner Bio-One’s magnetic 3D cell culture is the magnetisation of cells with NanoShuttle-PL. The cells can be aggregated with magnetic forces, either by levitation or printing, to form structurally and biologically representative 3D models in vitro.

Magnetic levitation is an easy tool to create native tissue environments in vitro. Cells are magnetised through overnight incubation and dispensed into a cell-repellent dish or multiwell plate, where they are levitated off the bottom by a magnet above the cell-repellent vessel. In contrast to magnetic levitation, with magnetic 3D bioprinting, cells incubated with NanoShuttle-PL overnight are printed into spheroids by placing a microplate containing magnetised cells atop a drive of magnets.

NanoShuttle-PL consists of gold, iron oxide and poly-L-Lysine. These nanoparticles (~50 nm) magnetise cells by electrostatically attaching to cell membranes during an overnight static incubation. Magnetised cells will appear peppered with dark nanoparticles after incubation.

The product is biocompatible, having no effect on metabolism, proliferation and inflammatory stress. Additionally, it does not interfere with experimental techniques, such as fluorescence or Western blotting. With magnetised spheroids, solution addition and removal is made easy by using magnetic force to hold them in a stationary position during aspiration, thereby limiting spheroid loss. Spheroids can also be picked up and transferred between vessels using magnetic tools such as the MagPen.

Advantages of magnetic cell culture include mimicking native tissue environment; rapid 3D model formation within hours; no specialised media; easy handling; no sample loss; and co-culture allowed.