Nanoparticle technology improves in-vitro attachment of cattle (Bos taurus) trophectoderm cells

The bovine cell line, cow trophectoderm-1 (CT-1), provides an excellent in-vitro cell culture model to study early embryonic development. Obtaining consistent attachment and outgrowth, however, is difficult because enzymatic disassociation into single cells is detrimental; therefore, CT-1 cells must be passaged in clumps, which do not attach readily to the surface of the dish. We tested whether magnetic nanoparticles, NanoShuttle™-PL, could be used to improve cell attachment and subsequent proliferation of the cattle trophectoderm cell line without altering cellular metabolism or immunofluorescent detection of the lineage marker Caudal Type Homeobox 2 (CDX2). Confluency was achieved more consistently by using the NanoShuttle™-PL system to magnetically force attachment (75–100% of wells) as compared to the control (11%). Moreover, there were no alterations in characteristic morphology, nuclear-localized expression of the trophectoderm marker CDX2, or glycolytic metabolism. By enhancing attachment, magnetic nanoparticles improved culture efficiency and reproducibility in an anchorage-dependent cell line that otherwise was recalcitrant to efficient passaging.