The effects of temperature and carbondioxide changes related to type i collagen presence on hepatocellular carcinoma cells

The early prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (hcc) is extremely difficult and treatment options are still very limited. The study aims to examine the effects of temperature and carbondioxide changes related to the presence of type i collagen, one of the most common components of the extracellular matrix. Twodimensional hepg2 cell cultures were maintained in both classical culture conditions and type i collagen-coated culture vessels at +4c°, +24c°, and +37c°. A comparative examination of phenotypic changes was performed after 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 hours. The cells that are in the incubators at 37c° with 5% co2 demonstrated normal growth pattern. Albumin expression was higher in the cells on type i collagen coated surfaces. Carbondioxide depletion caused morphological changes and a gradual decrease in viability. The cancer cells on type i collagencoated surfaces presented significant phenotypic changes in all groups. The results of the study suggest that the cells on type i collagen-coated surfaces were more resistant to the temperature and the carbondioxide changes in the microenvironment. Further studies related to the mechanism(s) that leads to this rezistance in cancer cells might be insightful for the development of new therapeutics.