Cells that make up tissues and organs are situated within a complex 3D structure known as the extracellular matrix. Despite this a high proportion of the current research being undertaken on these cells are being performed within a 2D matrix. The properties of a cell, such as its shape and size, are affected by the physical environment in which it is grown. 3D cell cultures are a new and exciting development that allow for a closer representation of a cell's natural environment and growth pattern.

MAPTrix HyGel^TM is a recombinant mussel adhesive protein based, semi-synthetic 3D extracellular matrix that is tailored to mimic specific ECM properties. The MAPTrix HyGel^TM hydrogel products are composed of two components: MAPTrix^TM ECM, a mussel adhesive protein based extracellular matrix (ECM) mimetic and, MAPTrix^TM Link, a multi-arm polyethylene glycol derivative. These parts together form the 3D hydrogel as shown below.

Currently existing products, such as extracted and reconstituted basement membrane, have associated with them a diverse array of unknown cues which can be highly disadvantageous, particularly when trying to isolate the effects of specific factors. In addition, these products generally have a variable composition as well as variable mechanical properties. Lot-to-lot inconsistency of reconstituted basement membrane is another problem with many existing basement membrane products which result in significant limitations regarding their end-use.

MAPTrix HyGel^TM addresses these limitations by providing a user-defined and in situ formable hydrogel system.

MAPTrix HyGel^TM is an innovative and versatile 3D cell culture tool that addresses the unmet needs of a chemically and physically defined matrix for cell culture applications and includes the following notable features:

• in situ creation of a fully-defined 3D extracellular matrix
• Free of animal derived components
• Readily able to engineer the elasticity and/or pore size of the hydrogel by adjusting the concentration of MAPTrix^TM ECM or MAPTrix^TM Linker
• User-friendly, ready-to-use formulation for the end-user
• All components of MAPTrix HyGel^TM are relatively stable and can be stored in a refrigerator, no deep-freezing is required
• Simply mixing each component can form a hydrogel within two hours, under physiological conditions.
• All components are soluble in most buffer solutions.
• MAPTrix HyGel^TM is compatible with existing cell culture protocols.
• High lot-to-lot consistency and reproducibility.
• High batch-to-batch reproducibility between samples and vials.
• QC & QA testing in accordance with USP Guidelines.