Tissue Engineering of 3D-Printed Scaffolds for Breast Cancer Research: A Study on Cell Viability and Adhesion
Pubblicato online: 17 lug 2025
Pagine: 207 - 215
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ebtj-2025-0017
Parole chiave
© 2025 Belma Nalbant et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Objective
Breast cancer remains one of the most prevalent malignancies among women worldwide, underscoring the need for physiologically relevant in vitro models that closely mimic the tumor microenvironment. While two-dimensional (2D) cultures are commonly used, they fall short in replicating in vivo conditions. This study aimed to develop a three-dimensional (3D) breast cancer model using various biomaterial-based scaffolds to evaluate their effects on cell viability, morphology, and adhesion.
Material and Method
MCF-7 breast cancer cells were cultured on five different 3D printed scaffolds composed of PLA, PCL, PET, HIPS, and TPU. Scaffold designs were created using SolidWorks and Slic3r, followed by 3D printing. Cell viability was assessed using the crystal violet assay, and morphological analysis was conducted through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal microscopy. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA.
Results
Among all tested scaffolds, TPU scaffolds exhibited superior performance, significantly enhancing MCF-7 cell viability compared to HIPS, PCL, and PET (***p ≤ 0.001), and slightly outperforming PLA (ns, p > 0.05). SEM analysis revealed enhanced cell spreading and surface attachment on TPU, while HIPS showed minimal interaction. Confocal imaging further confirmed superior nuclear localization and mitochondrial activity on TPU scaffolds, indicating improved metabolic activity and 3D cellular organization.
Conclusion
The findings confirm that TPU scaffolds provide the most supportive microenvironment for MCF-7 cells in 3D culture, offering superior viability, morphology, and cellular interaction. PLA also showed promising results but was slightly less effective than TPU. In contrast, HIPS was the least effective and appears unsuitable as a standalone scaffold material. These results support the use of TPU for physiologically relevant 3D in vitro models of breast cancer for future research and therapeutic applications.