Cell2Bio's technology builds on peer-reviewed research from KTH and SciLifeLab on cellulose nanofibril (CNF) layer-by-layer coatings. Much of this work predates the company, so Cell2Bio is not always named in the papers themselves.
Peer-reviewed article2022
Layer-by-Layer Cellulose Nanofibrils: A New Coating Strategy for Development and Characterization of Tumor Spheroids as a Model for In Vitro Anticancer Drug Screening
Aljadi et al.
Macromolecular Bioscience 22(10), 2200137
Turns the CNF coating chemistry into a spheroid-forming surface. With CNF as the outermost, low-adhesion layer, HCT 116 colorectal carcinoma and HEK 293T cells formed spheroids within 24 hours, even from low seeding numbers. On five bilayers, spheroid diameters reached ~309 µm (HCT 116) and ~663 µm (HEK 293T), and HCT 116 spheroids responded to irinotecan treatment.
Cells
HCT 116, HEK 293T
Imaging
ZOE fluorescent imager, Calcein-AM / PI / Hoechst, confocal
Assessing the Layer-by-Layer Assembly of Cellulose Nanofibrils and Polyelectrolytes in Pancreatic Tumor Spheroid Formation
Abbasi Aval et al.
Biomedicines 11(11), 3061
Optimizes the coating for hard-to-culture pancreatic cancer models. Raising polyelectrolyte molecular weight (PAH 17.5 → 725 kDa, PEI 25 → 60 kDa), doubling coating concentration to ~100 mg/L and moving to ten bilayers on non-treated/non-sterilized surfaces enabled robust spheroid formation in PANC-1, MiaPaCa-2, CFPAC-I and KPCT cells, with day-7 viability generally around 90–98%.
Multi-layer assembly of cellulose nanofibrils in a microfluidic device for the selective capture and release of viable tumor cells from whole blood
Kumar et al.
Nanoscale 12, 21788–21797
Establishes the underlying surface-coating platform. Carboxymethylated CNF assembled with cationic PAH and PEI forms nanometre-thin multilayer films on biologically relevant surfaces. Antibody-functionalized coatings captured over 97% of HCT 116 cells with ~200-fold enrichment from whole blood, over 80% cell recovery and ≥97% viability after cellulase-mediated release.
The application of microfluidic devices and multifunctional fibers in cancer diagnostics
Kumar, Tharagan
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Doctoral work exploring microfluidic devices and multifunctional fibers for cancer diagnostics, including the isolation and detection of rare cells such as circulating tumor cells from whole blood.
Utilizing Biopolymers in 3D Tumor Modeling and Tumor Diagnosis
Abbasi Aval, Negar
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Doctoral work on biopolymers in 3D tumor modeling and tumor diagnosis, including the optimization of layer-by-layer cellulose nanofibril coatings for pancreatic tumor spheroid formation and drug screening.
Decellularized liver extracellular matrix as a 3D scaffold for bioengineering applications
Khati, Vamakshi
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Doctoral work on decellularized liver extracellular matrix as a 3D scaffold for bioengineering applications, addressing the need for transplantable liver tissue and 3D cell culture models.
