Characterization of Agarose and Alginate Gels for Cell Compression Experiments

Various concentrations of folly hydrated agarose and alginate gel formed into cuboid shapes are tested in unconfined compression with impermeable plattens to determine Young’s modulus at equilibrium (relaxed elastic modulus) of the gel blocks. Repeat testing of a single block was performed to assess intra-test variability in testing conditions and deterioration of the gels during the testing procedure. Variability in material properties of gels formed in a single batch was assessed. The data was compared with values obtained from a search of relevant literature. While general trends in the data were the same (increased modulus for larger concentration gel), large differences in actual values of material properties were noted which could be ascribed to differences in the method and conditions of testing and theoretical models used to obtain material properties. Accurate properties of the gels are needed in gel-cell (cells embedded in gel) compression experiments in order to extract accurate cellular properties. It is concluded that it is necessary to use the gel material properties obtained under the same conditions of testing in order to determine cellular material properties in gel-cell compression experiments.