Silk fibers assisted long-term 3D culture of human primary urinary stem cells via inhibition of senescence-associated genes: Potential use in the assessment of chronic mitochondrial toxicity

Research Overview

Existing 2D cell models cannot assess chronic mitochondrial toxicity, leaving a gap in drug development. This study built a 3D platform intended as a reliable, sensitive, cost-efficient, high-throughput predictor of drug-induced mitochondrial toxicity.

Human primary urine-derived stem cells were cultured long-term in a 3D silk fiber matrix and compared with the same cells grown as spheroids, using zalcitabine — a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor — as the test drug. Cell numbers held steady for four weeks in spheroids and six weeks in the silk matrix, and 95% of cells survived in the silk fiber matrix while spheroid cell numbers declined significantly.