Fig. 1

a Preparation of cross-linked chitosan solution using the cross-linker β-glycerophosphate. The resulting solution shows thermo-responsive behavior. b Experimental design to test chitosan. Individual cancer cell lines (OV2008 and U373) or normal cell lines (IOSE-121 and IMCC3) were seeded in growth medium in MatTek’s plates and incubated overnight. On the following day, the growth medium in the outside chamber was replaced with either fresh medium or with chitosan and all the cells were incubated for either 10 min or 1 h at 37C in 5% CO₂ and at the end of incubation plates were evaluated by confocal microscopy