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Verheijen FWM, Tran TNM, Chang J, Broere F, Zaal EA, Berkers CR. Deciphering metabolic crosstalk in context: lessons from inflammatory diseases. Mol Oncol 2024; 18:1759-1776. [PMID: 38275212 PMCID: PMC11223610 DOI: 10.1002/1878-0261.13588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2023] [Revised: 11/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Metabolism plays a crucial role in regulating the function of immune cells in both health and disease, with altered metabolism contributing to the pathogenesis of cancer and many inflammatory diseases. The local microenvironment has a profound impact on the metabolism of immune cells. Therefore, immunological and metabolic heterogeneity as well as the spatial organization of cells in tissues should be taken into account when studying immunometabolism. Here, we highlight challenges of investigating metabolic communication. Additionally, we review the capabilities and limitations of current technologies for studying metabolism in inflamed microenvironments, including single-cell omics techniques, flow cytometry-based methods (Met-Flow, single-cell energetic metabolism by profiling translation inhibition (SCENITH)), cytometry by time of flight (CyTOF), cellular indexing of transcriptomes and epitopes by sequencing (CITE-Seq), and mass spectrometry imaging. Considering the importance of metabolism in regulating immune cells in diseased states, we also discuss the applications of metabolomics in clinical research, as well as some hurdles to overcome to implement these techniques in standard clinical practice. Finally, we provide a flowchart to assist scientists in designing effective strategies to unravel immunometabolism in disease-relevant contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fenne W. M. Verheijen
- Division of Cell Biology, Metabolism & Cancer, Department Biomolecular Health Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary MedicineUtrecht UniversityThe Netherlands
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Department Biomolecular Health Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary MedicineUtrecht UniversityThe Netherlands
| | - Thi N. M. Tran
- Division of Cell Biology, Metabolism & Cancer, Department Biomolecular Health Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary MedicineUtrecht UniversityThe Netherlands
- Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Bijvoet Centre for Biomolecular ResearchUtrecht UniversityThe Netherlands
| | - Jung‐Chin Chang
- Division of Cell Biology, Metabolism & Cancer, Department Biomolecular Health Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary MedicineUtrecht UniversityThe Netherlands
| | - Femke Broere
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Department Biomolecular Health Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary MedicineUtrecht UniversityThe Netherlands
| | - Esther A. Zaal
- Division of Cell Biology, Metabolism & Cancer, Department Biomolecular Health Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary MedicineUtrecht UniversityThe Netherlands
| | - Celia R. Berkers
- Division of Cell Biology, Metabolism & Cancer, Department Biomolecular Health Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary MedicineUtrecht UniversityThe Netherlands
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2
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Boder-Pasche S, Demir M, Heub S, Garzuel M, Ischer R, Migliozzi D, Graf S, Schmid N, Atakan HB, Gudkova D, Alpern D, Dainese R, Deplancke B, Weder G. Multi-well plate lid for single-step pooling of 96 samples for high-throughput barcode-based sequencing. Biomed Microdevices 2024; 26:18. [PMID: 38416278 PMCID: PMC10902082 DOI: 10.1007/s10544-024-00702-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024]
Abstract
High-throughput transcriptomics is of increasing fundamental biological and clinical interest. The generation of molecular data from large collections of samples, such as biobanks and drug libraries, is boosting the development of new biomarkers and treatments. Focusing on gene expression, the transcriptomic market exploits the benefits of next-generation sequencing (NGS), leveraging RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) as standard for measuring genome-wide gene expression in biological samples. The cumbersome sample preparation, including RNA extraction, conversion to cDNA and amplification, prevents high-throughput translation of RNA-seq technologies. Bulk RNA barcoding and sequencing (BRB-seq) addresses this limitation by enabling sample preparation in multi-well plate format. Sample multiplexing combined with early pooling into a single tube reduces reagents consumption and manual steps. Enabling simultaneous pooling of all samples from the multi-well plate into one tube, our technology relies on smart labware: a pooling lid comprising fluidic features and small pins to transport the liquid, adapted to standard 96-well plates. Operated with standard fluidic tubes and pump, the system enables over 90% recovery of liquid in a single step in less than a minute. Large scale manufacturing of the lid is demonstrated with the transition from a milled polycarbonate/steel prototype into an injection molded polystyrene lid. The pooling lid demonstrated its value in supporting high-throughput barcode-based sequencing by pooling 96 different DNA barcodes directly from a standard 96-well plate, followed by processing within the single sample pool. This new pooling technology shows great potential to address medium throughput needs in the BRB-seq workflow, thereby addressing the challenge of large-scale and cost-efficient sample preparation for RNA-seq.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stéphanie Boder-Pasche
- CSEM SA Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2002, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
| | - Mustafa Demir
- Laboratory of Systems Biology and Genetics, Institute of Bio-Engineering & Global Health Institute, School of Life Sciences, EPFL, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Alithea Genomics, Biopôle, CH-1066, Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Sarah Heub
- CSEM SA Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2002, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Manon Garzuel
- CSEM SA Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2002, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Réal Ischer
- CSEM SA Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2002, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Migliozzi
- CSEM SA Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2002, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Siegfried Graf
- CSEM SA Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2002, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Noa Schmid
- CSEM SA Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2002, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - H Baris Atakan
- CSEM SA Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2002, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Daria Gudkova
- Laboratory of Systems Biology and Genetics, Institute of Bio-Engineering & Global Health Institute, School of Life Sciences, EPFL, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Alithea Genomics, Biopôle, CH-1066, Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Alpern
- Laboratory of Systems Biology and Genetics, Institute of Bio-Engineering & Global Health Institute, School of Life Sciences, EPFL, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Alithea Genomics, Biopôle, CH-1066, Epalinges, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Riccardo Dainese
- Laboratory of Systems Biology and Genetics, Institute of Bio-Engineering & Global Health Institute, School of Life Sciences, EPFL, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Alithea Genomics, Biopôle, CH-1066, Epalinges, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Bart Deplancke
- Laboratory of Systems Biology and Genetics, Institute of Bio-Engineering & Global Health Institute, School of Life Sciences, EPFL, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Gilles Weder
- CSEM SA Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2002, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
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3
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Lin WZS, Bostic WKV, Malmstadt N. 3D-printed microfluidic device for high-throughput production of lipid nanoparticles incorporating SARS-CoV-2 spike protein mRNA. LAB ON A CHIP 2024; 24:162-170. [PMID: 38165143 PMCID: PMC10853008 DOI: 10.1039/d3lc00520h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are drug carriers for protecting nucleic acids for cellular delivery. The first mRNA vaccines authorized by the United States Food and Drug Administration are the mRNA-1273 (Moderna) and BNT162b (BioNTech/Pfizer) vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We designed a 3D printed Omnidirectional Sheath-flow Enabled Microfluidics (OSEM) device for producing mRNA-loaded LNPs that closely resemble the Moderna vaccine: we used the same lipid formulations to encapsulate mRNA encoding SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The OSEM device is made of durable methacrylate-based materials that can support flow rates in the mL min-1 range and was fabricated by stereolithography (SLA), incorporating readily adaptable interfaces using commercial fluidic connectors. Two key features of the OSEM device are: 1) a 4-way hydrodynamic flow focusing region and 2) a staggered herringbone mixer (SHM). Superior to conventional planar fluid junctions, the 4-way sheath flow channel generates an evenly focused, circular center flow that facilitates the formation of LNPs with low polydispersity. Downstream, fluid mixing in the SHM is intensified by incorporating a zig-zag fluidic pathway to deliver high mRNA encapsulation efficiency. We characterized the mRNA-loaded LNPs produced in the OSEM device and showed that the enhanced 3D microfluidic structures enable a 5-fold higher throughput production rate (60 mL min-1) of LNPs compared to commercial multi-thousand-dollar micromixers. The device produced LNPs of diameter less than 90 nm, with low polydispersity (2-8%) and high mRNA encapsulation efficiency (>90%). The 3D-printed device provides a cost-effective and easily prepared solution for high-throughput LNP production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wan-Zhen Sophie Lin
- Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA.
| | - William Kristian Vu Bostic
- USC Biomedical Engineering Department, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA
| | - Noah Malmstadt
- Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA.
- USC Biomedical Engineering Department, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA
- Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA
- USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California 90033, USA
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4
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Slika H, Karimov Z, Alimonti P, Abou-Mrad T, De Fazio E, Alomari S, Tyler B. Preclinical Models and Technologies in Glioblastoma Research: Evolution, Current State, and Future Avenues. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:16316. [PMID: 38003507 PMCID: PMC10671665 DOI: 10.3390/ijms242216316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Revised: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Glioblastoma is the most common malignant primary central nervous system tumor and one of the most debilitating cancers. The prognosis of patients with glioblastoma remains poor, and the management of this tumor, both in its primary and recurrent forms, remains suboptimal. Despite the tremendous efforts that are being put forward by the research community to discover novel efficacious therapeutic agents and modalities, no major paradigm shifts have been established in the field in the last decade. However, this does not mirror the abundance of relevant findings and discoveries made in preclinical glioblastoma research. Hence, developing and utilizing appropriate preclinical models that faithfully recapitulate the characteristics and behavior of human glioblastoma is of utmost importance. Herein, we offer a holistic picture of the evolution of preclinical models of glioblastoma. We further elaborate on the commonly used in vitro and vivo models, delving into their development, favorable characteristics, shortcomings, and areas of potential improvement, which aids researchers in designing future experiments and utilizing the most suitable models. Additionally, this review explores progress in the fields of humanized and immunotolerant mouse models, genetically engineered animal models, 3D in vitro models, and microfluidics and highlights promising avenues for the future of preclinical glioblastoma research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hasan Slika
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; (H.S.); (Z.K.); (S.A.)
| | - Ziya Karimov
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; (H.S.); (Z.K.); (S.A.)
- Faculty of Medicine, Ege University, 35100 Izmir, Turkey
| | - Paolo Alimonti
- School of Medicine, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy; (P.A.); (E.D.F.)
| | - Tatiana Abou-Mrad
- Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut P.O. Box 11-0236, Lebanon;
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
| | - Emerson De Fazio
- School of Medicine, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy; (P.A.); (E.D.F.)
| | - Safwan Alomari
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; (H.S.); (Z.K.); (S.A.)
| | - Betty Tyler
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; (H.S.); (Z.K.); (S.A.)
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5
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Luo Y, Li X, Zhao Y, Zhong W, Xing M, Lyu G. Development of Organs-on-Chips and Their Impact on Precision Medicine and Advanced System Simulation. Pharmaceutics 2023; 15:2094. [PMID: 37631308 PMCID: PMC10460056 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15082094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2023] [Revised: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Drugs may undergo costly preclinical studies but still fail to demonstrate their efficacy in clinical trials, which makes it challenging to discover new drugs. Both in vitro and in vivo models are essential for disease research and therapeutic development. However, these models cannot simulate the physiological and pathological environment in the human body, resulting in limited drug detection and inaccurate disease modelling, failing to provide valid guidance for clinical application. Organs-on-chips (OCs) are devices that serve as a micro-physiological system or a tissue-on-a-chip; they provide accurate insights into certain functions and the pathophysiology of organs to precisely predict the safety and efficiency of drugs in the body. OCs are faster, more economical, and more precise. Thus, they are projected to become a crucial addition to, and a long-term replacement for, traditional preclinical cell cultures, animal studies, and even human clinical trials. This paper first outlines the nature of OCs and their significance, and then details their manufacturing-related materials and methodology. It also discusses applications of OCs in drug screening and disease modelling and treatment, and presents the future perspective of OCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Luo
- Burn & Trauma Treatment Center, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214000, China; (Y.L.); (X.L.)
- Engineering Research Center of the Ministry of Education for Wound Repair Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214000, China
- Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214000, China
| | - Xiaoxiao Li
- Burn & Trauma Treatment Center, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214000, China; (Y.L.); (X.L.)
- Engineering Research Center of the Ministry of Education for Wound Repair Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214000, China
- Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214000, China
- Department of General Surgery, Huai’an 82 Hospital, Huai’an 223003, China
| | - Yawei Zhao
- Department of Biosystems Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada; (Y.Z.); (W.Z.)
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada
| | - Wen Zhong
- Department of Biosystems Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada; (Y.Z.); (W.Z.)
| | - Malcolm Xing
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada
| | - Guozhong Lyu
- Burn & Trauma Treatment Center, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214000, China; (Y.L.); (X.L.)
- Engineering Research Center of the Ministry of Education for Wound Repair Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214000, China
- Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214000, China
- National Research Center for Emergency Medicine, Beijing 100000, China
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6
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Wu KZ, Adine C, Mitriashkin A, Aw BJJ, Iyer NG, Fong ELS. Making In Vitro Tumor Models Whole Again. Adv Healthc Mater 2023; 12:e2202279. [PMID: 36718949 DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202202279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
As a reductionist approach, patient-derived in vitro tumor models are inherently still too simplistic for personalized drug testing as they do not capture many characteristics of the tumor microenvironment (TME), such as tumor architecture and stromal heterogeneity. This is especially problematic for assessing stromal-targeting drugs such as immunotherapies in which the density and distribution of immune and other stromal cells determine drug efficacy. On the other end, in vivo models are typically costly, low-throughput, and time-consuming to establish. Ex vivo patient-derived tumor explant (PDE) cultures involve the culture of resected tumor fragments that potentially retain the intact TME of the original tumor. Although developed decades ago, PDE cultures have not been widely adopted likely because of their low-throughput and poor long-term viability. However, with growing recognition of the importance of patient-specific TME in mediating drug response, especially in the field of immune-oncology, there is an urgent need to resurrect these holistic cultures. In this Review, the key limitations of patient-derived tumor explant cultures are outlined and technologies that have been developed or could be employed to address these limitations are discussed. Engineered holistic tumor explant cultures may truly realize the concept of personalized medicine for cancer patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenny Zhuoran Wu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 119276, Singapore
| | - Christabella Adine
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 119276, Singapore
| | - Aleksandr Mitriashkin
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 119276, Singapore
| | - Benjamin Jun Jie Aw
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 119276, Singapore
| | - N Gopalakrishna Iyer
- Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, 169857, Singapore
- Department of Head and Neck Surgery, National Cancer Centre Singapore, Singapore, 169610, Singapore
| | - Eliza Li Shan Fong
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 119276, Singapore
- The N.1 Institute for Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117456, Singapore
- Cancer Science Institute (CSI), National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117599, Singapore
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7
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Barry A, Samuel SF, Hosni I, Moursi A, Feugere L, Sennett CJ, Deepak S, Achawal S, Rajaraman C, Iles A, Wollenberg Valero KC, Scott IS, Green V, Stead LF, Greenman J, Wade MA, Beltran-Alvarez P. Investigating the effects of arginine methylation inhibitors on microdissected brain tumour biopsies maintained in a miniaturised perfusion system. LAB ON A CHIP 2023; 23:2664-2682. [PMID: 37191188 DOI: 10.1039/d3lc00204g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Arginine methylation is a post-translational modification that consists of the transfer of one or two methyl (CH3) groups to arginine residues in proteins. Several types of arginine methylation occur, namely monomethylation, symmetric dimethylation and asymmetric dimethylation, which are catalysed by different protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs). Inhibitors of PRMTs have recently entered clinical trials to target several types of cancer, including gliomas (NCT04089449). People with glioblastoma (GBM), the most aggressive form of brain tumour, are among those with the poorest quality of life and likelihood of survival of anyone diagnosed with cancer. There is currently a lack of (pre)clinical research on the possible application of PRMT inhibitors to target brain tumours. Here, we set out to investigate the effects of clinically-relevant PRMT inhibitors on GBM biopsies. We present a new, low-cost, easy to fabricate perfusion device that can maintain GBM tissue in a viable condition for at least eight days post-surgical resection. The miniaturised perfusion device enables the treatment of GBM tissue with PRMT inhibitors ex vivo, and we observed a two-fold increase in apoptosis in treated samples compared to parallel control experiments. Mechanistically, we show thousands of differentially expressed genes after treatment, and changes in the type of arginine methylation of the RNA binding protein FUS that are consistent with hundreds of differential gene splicing events. This is the first time that cross-talk between different types of arginine methylation has been observed in clinical samples after treatment with PRMT inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonia Barry
- Centre for Biomedicine, Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, Hull, UK.
| | - Sabrina F Samuel
- Centre for Biomedicine, Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, Hull, UK.
| | - Ines Hosni
- Centre for Biomedicine, Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, Hull, UK.
| | - Amr Moursi
- Department of Neurosurgery, Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Hull Royal Infirmary, Hull, UK
| | - Lauric Feugere
- Department of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Hull, Hull, UK
| | | | - Srihari Deepak
- Department of Neurosurgery, Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Hull Royal Infirmary, Hull, UK
| | - Shailendra Achawal
- Department of Neurosurgery, Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Hull Royal Infirmary, Hull, UK
| | - Chittoor Rajaraman
- Department of Neurosurgery, Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Hull Royal Infirmary, Hull, UK
| | | | | | - Ian S Scott
- Neuroscience Laboratories, The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, UK
| | - Vicky Green
- Centre for Biomedicine, Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, Hull, UK.
| | - Lucy F Stead
- Leeds Institute of Medical Research at St James's, St James's University Hospital, Leeds, UK
| | - John Greenman
- Centre for Biomedicine, Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, Hull, UK.
| | - Mark A Wade
- Centre for Biomedicine, Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, Hull, UK.
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8
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Komar ZM, van Gent DC, Chakrabarty S. Establishing a Microfluidic Tumor Slice Culture Platform to Study Drug Response. Curr Protoc 2023; 3:e693. [PMID: 36912175 DOI: 10.1002/cpz1.693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/14/2023]
Abstract
Accurate models for tumor biology and prediction of drug responses of individual tumors require novel technology to grow tumor tissue ex vivo to maintain tumor growth characteristics in situ. Models containing only tumor cells, without the stromal components of the tumor, are suboptimal for many purposes and are generally problematic because the cells are passed through extensive culture and selection. Therefore, direct culture of (human) tumors is of considerable interest for basic tumor biology and diagnostic purposes. Microfluidic technologies have been proposed to accurately mimic physiological conditions for tissue growth. Most published systems build tissues from individual cell types in so-called Organ-on-Chip (OoC) cultures. We here describe a novel OoC device for growing tumor specimens. Thin tumor slices are grown in a microfluidic 'chip' that allows precisely controlled in vitro culture conditions. The performance of the OoC device was extensively validated for predicting therapeutic responses in human breast cancer patient-derived xenograft (PDX) tumor material. The system is amenable to primary tumor material from surgery or biopsies. In addition to using the model to predict and evaluate therapeutic responses, the model can also be used for mechanistic studies of human cancers, such as clonal evolution or immune responses, or to validate new or repurposed (cancer) drugs. The Bi/ond Cancer-on-Chip (CoC) device is designed to culture tumor slices and investigate aspects of tumor growth and drug responses. Here, we describe the step-by-step process of setting up tumor slice cultures using a Bi/ond CoC device and performing in vitro drug response evaluation. © 2023 The Authors. Current Protocols published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Establishment of breast cancer tumor slice culture using a microfluidic cancer-on-chip platform for chemotherapy testing ex vivo Basic Protocol 2: Histology and immunohistochemistry-based analysis of tumor tissue architecture, cell proliferation, and cell death.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zofia M Komar
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Dik C van Gent
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Oncode Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Sanjiban Chakrabarty
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India
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9
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Cryan MT, Li Y, Ross AE. Sustained delivery of focal ischemia coupled to real-time neurochemical sensing in brain slices. LAB ON A CHIP 2022; 22:2173-2184. [PMID: 35531656 PMCID: PMC9156565 DOI: 10.1039/d1lc00908g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Local stimulation of tissue can occur naturally in events like immune-mediated inflammation and focal ischemic injuries in brain and is confined to specific regions within tissue, occurring on various timescales. Making chemical measurements at the exact site of stimulation with current technologies is difficult yet important for understanding tissue response. We have developed a microfluidic device capable of local stimulation of brain slices with minimal lateral spread over time and submillimeter, tunable spatial resolution. This device is compatible with electrochemical measurements to monitor signaling at the site of stimulation over time. The PDMS-based device is three layers and contains a culture well, channel layer, and exit port layer for the channels. Channels with exit ports straddling the stimulus channels and ports were specifically fabricated to focus the stimulus over time. We demonstrated that the device is compatible with fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) recording of neurotransmitter release. Localized hypoxia in tissue was verified using Image-iT Green Hypoxia Reagent and coupling this device with FSCV enabled measurement of local dopamine changes at the site of focal ischemia for the first time. This work provides a significant advance in knowledge of local neurochemical fluctuations during sustained tissue injury. Overall, the unique capabilities of the device to deliver sustained localized stimulation combined with real-time sensing provide an innovative platform to answer significant biological questions about how tissues respond at the site of controlled, localized injury and chemical stimulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael T Cryan
- University of Cincinnati, Department of Chemistry, 312 College Drive, 404 Crosley Tower, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0172, USA.
| | - Yuxin Li
- University of Cincinnati, Department of Chemistry, 312 College Drive, 404 Crosley Tower, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0172, USA.
| | - Ashley E Ross
- University of Cincinnati, Department of Chemistry, 312 College Drive, 404 Crosley Tower, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0172, USA.
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10
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Monteiro MV, Zhang YS, Gaspar VM, Mano JF. 3D-bioprinted cancer-on-a-chip: level-up organotypic in vitro models. Trends Biotechnol 2022; 40:432-447. [PMID: 34556340 PMCID: PMC8916962 DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2021.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2021] [Revised: 08/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Combinatorial conjugation of organ-on-a-chip platforms with additive manufacturing technologies is rapidly emerging as a disruptive approach for upgrading cancer-on-a-chip systems towards anatomic-sized dynamic in vitro models. This valuable technological synergy has potential for giving rise to truly physiomimetic 3D models that better emulate tumor microenvironment elements, bioarchitecture, and response to multidimensional flow dynamics. Herein, we showcase the most recent advances in bioengineering 3D-bioprinted cancer-on-a-chip platforms and provide a comprehensive discussion on design guidelines and possibilities for high-throughput analysis. Such hybrid platforms represent a new generation of highly sophisticated 3D tumor models with improved biomimicry and predictability of therapeutics performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria V Monteiro
- Department of Chemistry, CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Yu Shrike Zhang
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Vítor M Gaspar
- Department of Chemistry, CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.
| | - João F Mano
- Department of Chemistry, CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.
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11
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Dsouza VL, Kuthethur R, Kabekkodu SP, Chakrabarty S. Organ-on-Chip platforms to study tumor evolution and chemosensitivity. Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer 2022; 1877:188717. [PMID: 35304293 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2022.188717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2021] [Revised: 03/10/2022] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Despite tremendous advancements in oncology research and therapeutics, cancer remains a primary cause of death worldwide. One of the significant factors in this critical challenge is a precise diagnosis and limited knowledge on how the tumor microenvironment (TME) behaves to the treatment and its role in chemo-resistance. Therefore, it is critical to understand the contribution of a heterogeneous TME in cancer drug response in individual patients for effective therapy management. Micro-physiological systems along with tissue engineering have facilitated the development of more physiologically relevant platforms, known as Organ-on-Chips (OoC). OoC platforms recapitulate the critical hallmarks of the TME in vitro and subsequently abet in sensitivity and efficacy testing of anti-cancer drugs before clinical trials. The OoC platforms incorporating conventional in vitro models enable researchers to control the cellular, molecular, chemical, and biophysical parameters of the TME in precise combinations while analyzing how they contribute to tumor progression and therapy response. This review discusses the application of OoC platforms integrated with conventional 2D cell lines, 3D organoids and spheroid models, and the organotypic tissue slices, including patient-derived and xenograft tumor slice cultures in cancer treatment responses. We summarize the relevance and drawbacks of conventional in vitro models in assessing cancer treatment response, challenges and limitations associated with OoC models, and future opportunities enabled by the OoC technologies towards developing personalized cancer diagnostics and therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Venzil Lavie Dsouza
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka 576104, India
| | - Raviprasad Kuthethur
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka 576104, India
| | - Shama Prasada Kabekkodu
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka 576104, India
| | - Sanjiban Chakrabarty
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka 576104, India.
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12
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Chakrabarty S, Quiros-Solano WF, Kuijten MM, Haspels B, Mallya S, Lo CSY, Othman A, Silvestri C, van de Stolpe A, Gaio N, Odijk H, van de Ven M, de Ridder CM, van Weerden WM, Jonkers J, Dekker R, Taneja N, Kanaar R, van Gent DC. A Microfluidic Cancer-on-Chip Platform Predicts Drug Response Using Organotypic Tumor Slice Culture. Cancer Res 2022; 82:510-520. [PMID: 34872965 PMCID: PMC9397621 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-21-0799] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2021] [Revised: 08/31/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Optimal treatment of cancer requires diagnostic methods to facilitate therapy choice and prevent ineffective treatments. Direct assessment of therapy response in viable tumor specimens could fill this diagnostic gap. Therefore, we designed a microfluidic platform for assessment of patient treatment response using tumor tissue slices under precisely controlled growth conditions. The optimized Cancer-on-Chip (CoC) platform maintained viability and sustained proliferation of breast and prostate tumor slices for 7 days. No major changes in tissue morphology or gene expression patterns were observed within this time frame, suggesting that the CoC system provides a reliable and effective way to probe intrinsic chemotherapeutic sensitivity of tumors. The customized CoC platform accurately predicted cisplatin and apalutamide treatment response in breast and prostate tumor xenograft models, respectively. The culture period for breast cancer could be extended up to 14 days without major changes in tissue morphology and viability. These culture characteristics enable assessment of treatment outcomes and open possibilities for detailed mechanistic studies. SIGNIFICANCE: The Cancer-on-Chip platform with a 6-well plate design incorporating silicon-based microfluidics can enable optimal patient-specific treatment strategies through parallel culture of multiple tumor slices and diagnostic assays using primary tumor material.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanjiban Chakrabarty
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.,Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India
| | - William F. Quiros-Solano
- Department of Microelectronics, Electronic Components, Technology and Materials, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands.,BIOND Solutions B.V., Delft, the Netherlands
| | - Maayke M.P. Kuijten
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.,Oncode Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Ben Haspels
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Sandeep Mallya
- Department of Bioinformatics, Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India
| | - Calvin Shun Yu Lo
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Amr Othman
- BIOND Solutions B.V., Delft, the Netherlands
| | | | | | | | - Hanny Odijk
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Marieke van de Ven
- Preclinical Intervention Unit, Mouse Clinic for Cancer and Ageing, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Corrina M.A. de Ridder
- Department of Urology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Wytske M. van Weerden
- Department of Urology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jos Jonkers
- Preclinical Intervention Unit, Mouse Clinic for Cancer and Ageing, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Ronald Dekker
- Department of Microelectronics, Electronic Components, Technology and Materials, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands.,Philips Research, Eindhoven, the Netherlands
| | - Nitika Taneja
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Roland Kanaar
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.,Oncode Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Dik C. van Gent
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.,Oncode Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.,Corresponding Author: Dik C. van Gent, Department of Molecular Genetics, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Dr. Molewaterplein 40, Rotterdam 3015GD, the Netherlands. Phone: 31-10-7043932; E-mail:
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13
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DePalma TJ, Sivakumar H, Skardal A. Strategies for developing complex multi-component in vitro tumor models: Highlights in glioblastoma. Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2022; 180:114067. [PMID: 34822927 PMCID: PMC10560581 DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2021.114067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2021] [Revised: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 11/18/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
In recent years, many research groups have begun to utilize bioengineered in vitro models of cancer to study mechanisms of disease progression, test drug candidates, and develop platforms to advance personalized drug treatment options. Due to advances in cell and tissue engineering over the last few decades, there are now a myriad of tools that can be used to create such in vitro systems. In this review, we describe the considerations one must take when developing model systems that accurately mimic the in vivo tumor microenvironment (TME) and can be used to answer specific scientific questions. We will summarize the importance of cell sourcing in models with one or multiple cell types and outline the importance of choosing biomaterials that accurately mimic the native extracellular matrix (ECM) of the tumor or tissue that is being modeled. We then provide examples of how these two components can be used in concert in a variety of model form factors and conclude by discussing how biofabrication techniques such as bioprinting and organ-on-a-chip fabrication can be used to create highly reproducible complex in vitro models. Since this topic has a broad range of applications, we use the final section of the review to dive deeper into one type of cancer, glioblastoma, to illustrate how these components come together to further our knowledge of cancer biology and move us closer to developing novel drugs and systems that improve patient outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas J DePalma
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Hemamylammal Sivakumar
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Aleksander Skardal
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; The Ohio State University and Arthur G. James Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
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14
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Catterton MA, Ball AG, Pompano RR. Rapid Fabrication by Digital Light Processing 3D Printing of a SlipChip with Movable Ports for Local Delivery to Ex Vivo Organ Cultures. MICROMACHINES 2021; 12:993. [PMID: 34442615 PMCID: PMC8399530 DOI: 10.3390/mi12080993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2021] [Revised: 08/14/2021] [Accepted: 08/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
SlipChips are two-part microfluidic devices that can be reconfigured to change fluidic pathways for a wide range of functions, including tissue stimulation. Currently, fabrication of these devices at the prototype stage requires a skilled microfluidic technician, e.g., for wet etching or alignment steps. In most cases, SlipChip functionality requires an optically clear, smooth, and flat surface that is fluorophilic and hydrophobic. Here, we tested digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing, which is rapid, reproducible, and easily shared, as a solution for fabrication of SlipChips at the prototype stage. As a case study, we sought to fabricate a SlipChip intended for local delivery to live tissue slices through a movable microfluidic port. The device was comprised of two multi-layer components: an enclosed channel with a delivery port and a culture chamber for tissue slices with a permeable support. Once the design was optimized, we demonstrated its function by locally delivering a chemical probe to slices of hydrogel and to living tissue with up to 120 µm spatial resolution. By establishing the design principles for 3D printing of SlipChip devices, this work will enhance the ability to rapidly prototype such devices at mid-scale levels of production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan A Catterton
- Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia College of Arts and Science, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA;
| | - Alexander G Ball
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA;
| | - Rebecca R Pompano
- Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia College of Arts and Science, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA;
- Carter Immunology Center and UVA Cancer Center, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4259, USA
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15
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Ma L, Cui Y, Sheng L, Du C, Deng J, Luo G. Determination of interfacial tension and viscosity under dripping flow in a step T-junction microdevice. Chin J Chem Eng 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2021.07.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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16
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Yang L, Pijuan-Galito S, Rho HS, Vasilevich AS, Eren AD, Ge L, Habibović P, Alexander MR, de Boer J, Carlier A, van Rijn P, Zhou Q. High-Throughput Methods in the Discovery and Study of Biomaterials and Materiobiology. Chem Rev 2021; 121:4561-4677. [PMID: 33705116 PMCID: PMC8154331 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c00752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The complex interaction of cells with biomaterials (i.e., materiobiology) plays an increasingly pivotal role in the development of novel implants, biomedical devices, and tissue engineering scaffolds to treat diseases, aid in the restoration of bodily functions, construct healthy tissues, or regenerate diseased ones. However, the conventional approaches are incapable of screening the huge amount of potential material parameter combinations to identify the optimal cell responses and involve a combination of serendipity and many series of trial-and-error experiments. For advanced tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, highly efficient and complex bioanalysis platforms are expected to explore the complex interaction of cells with biomaterials using combinatorial approaches that offer desired complex microenvironments during healing, development, and homeostasis. In this review, we first introduce materiobiology and its high-throughput screening (HTS). Then we present an in-depth of the recent progress of 2D/3D HTS platforms (i.e., gradient and microarray) in the principle, preparation, screening for materiobiology, and combination with other advanced technologies. The Compendium for Biomaterial Transcriptomics and high content imaging, computational simulations, and their translation toward commercial and clinical uses are highlighted. In the final section, current challenges and future perspectives are discussed. High-throughput experimentation within the field of materiobiology enables the elucidation of the relationships between biomaterial properties and biological behavior and thereby serves as a potential tool for accelerating the development of high-performance biomaterials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liangliang Yang
- University
of Groningen, W. J. Kolff Institute for Biomedical Engineering and
Materials Science, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University Medical Center Groningen, A. Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Sara Pijuan-Galito
- School
of Pharmacy, Biodiscovery Institute, University
of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
| | - Hoon Suk Rho
- Department
of Instructive Biomaterials Engineering, MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired
Regenerative Medicine, Maastricht University, 6229 ER Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Aliaksei S. Vasilevich
- Department
of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University
of Technology, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Aysegul Dede Eren
- Department
of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University
of Technology, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Lu Ge
- University
of Groningen, W. J. Kolff Institute for Biomedical Engineering and
Materials Science, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University Medical Center Groningen, A. Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Pamela Habibović
- Department
of Instructive Biomaterials Engineering, MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired
Regenerative Medicine, Maastricht University, 6229 ER Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Morgan R. Alexander
- School
of Pharmacy, Boots Science Building, University
of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
| | - Jan de Boer
- Department
of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University
of Technology, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Aurélie Carlier
- Department
of Cell Biology-Inspired Tissue Engineering, MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired
Regenerative Medicine, Maastricht University, 6229 ER Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Patrick van Rijn
- University
of Groningen, W. J. Kolff Institute for Biomedical Engineering and
Materials Science, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University Medical Center Groningen, A. Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Qihui Zhou
- Institute
for Translational Medicine, Department of Stomatology, The Affiliated
Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao
University, Qingdao 266003, China
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17
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Wan L, Yin J, Skoko J, Schwartz R, Zhang M, LeDuc PR, Neumann CA. 3D Collagen Vascular Tumor-on-a-Chip Mimetics for Dynamic Combinatorial Drug Screening. Mol Cancer Ther 2021; 20:1210-1219. [PMID: 33785649 DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.mct-20-0880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2020] [Revised: 02/15/2021] [Accepted: 03/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Disease models, including in vitro cell culture and animal models, have contributed significantly to developing diagnostics and treatments over the past several decades. The successes of traditional drug screening methods were generally hampered by not adequately mimicking critical in vivo features, such as a 3D microenvironment and dynamic drug diffusion through the extracellular matrix (ECM). To address these issues, we developed a 3D dynamic drug delivery system for cancer drug screening that mimicks drug dissemination through the tumor vasculature and the ECM by creating collagen-embedded microfluidic channels. Using this novel 3D ECM microsystem, we compared viability of tumor pieces with traditionally used 2D methods in response to three different drug combinations. Drug diffusion profiles were evaluated by simulation methods and tested in the 3D ECM microsystem and a 2D 96-well setup. Compared with the 2D control, the 3D ECM microsystem produced reliable data on viability, drug ratios, and combination indeces. This novel approach enables higher throughput and sets the stage for future applications utilizing drug sensitivity predicting algorithms based on dynamic diffusion profiles requiring only minimal patient tissue. Our findings moved drug sensitivity screening closer to clinical implications with a focus on testing combinatorial drug effects, an option often limited by the amount of available patient tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Wan
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Jun Yin
- Department of Developmental Biology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Cancer Institute, Magee Womens Research Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - John Skoko
- Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Cancer Institute, Magee Womens Research Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Russell Schwartz
- Computational Biology Department, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Mei Zhang
- Department of Developmental Biology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Cancer Institute, Magee Womens Research Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Philip R LeDuc
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
| | - Carola A Neumann
- Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Cancer Institute, Magee Womens Research Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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18
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Zhou K, Dey M, Ayan B, Zhang Z, Ozbolat V, Kim MH, Khristov V, Ozbolat IT. Fabrication of PDMS microfluidic devices using nanoclay-reinforced Pluronic F-127 as a sacrificial ink. Biomed Mater 2021; 16:045005. [PMID: 33571984 DOI: 10.1088/1748-605x/abe55e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology is increasingly being employed in biochemical as well as clinical applications and more importantly in fabrication of microfluidic devices. However, the microfluidic community mainly relies on photolithography for fabrication of a defined mask, which is both tedious and expensive requiring clean room settings as well as limited to the generation of two-dimensional (2D) features. In this work, we 3D printed nanoclay-reinforced Pluronic ink as a sacrificial material, which exhibited shear thinning behavior and superior printability allowing the fabrication of unsupported or overhanging templates of channels with uniform diameter and circular cross-sections. To highlight the potential and effectiveness of the presented approach, we fabricated a human blood vessel-on-a-chip model with curved as well as straight channels. These channels were then lined with Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial cells (HUVECs) and subjected to a dynamic culture for 10 days to explore the effect of shear stress on HUVEC morphology based on the location of HUVECs in the devices. Overall, we presented a highly affordable, useful, and practical approach in fabrication of closed microfluidic channels in PDMS based devices, which holds great potential for numerous applications, such as but not limited to tissue/organ-on-chip, microfluidics, point-of-care devices and drug screening platforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kui Zhou
- Nanchang University, School of Mechanic & Electronic Engineering, Nanchang, 330031, CHINA
| | - Madhuri Dey
- Penn State, W313 MSC, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, UNITED STATES
| | - Bugra Ayan
- Penn State, W313 MSC, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, UNITED STATES
| | - Zhifeng Zhang
- Penn State, W313 MSC, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, UNITED STATES
| | - Veli Ozbolat
- Cukurova Universitesi, Ceyhan Engineering Faculty, Adana, 01950, TURKEY
| | - Myoung Hwan Kim
- Penn State, W313, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, UNITED STATES
| | - Vladimir Khristov
- Penn State, Neurosurgery, Herhsey, Pennsylvania, 17033, UNITED STATES
| | - Ibrahim T Ozbolat
- Penn State, W313 MSC, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, UNITED STATES
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19
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Sharma S, Venzac B, Burgers T, Le Gac S, Schlatt S. Microfluidics in male reproduction: is ex vivo culture of primate testis tissue a future strategy for ART or toxicology research? Mol Hum Reprod 2021; 26:179-192. [PMID: 31977028 DOI: 10.1093/molehr/gaaa006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2019] [Revised: 01/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The significant rise in male infertility disorders over the years has led to extensive research efforts to recapitulate the process of male gametogenesis in vitro and to identify essential mechanisms involved in spermatogenesis, notably for clinical applications. A promising technology to bridge this research gap is organ-on-chip (OoC) technology, which has gradually transformed the research landscape in ART and offers new opportunities to develop advanced in vitro culture systems. With exquisite control on a cell or tissue microenvironment, customized organ-specific structures can be fabricated in in vitro OoC platforms, which can also simulate the effect of in vivo vascularization. Dynamic cultures using microfluidic devices enable us to create stimulatory effect and non-stimulatory culture conditions. Noteworthy is that recent studies demonstrated the potential of continuous perfusion in OoC systems using ex vivo mouse testis tissues. Here we review the existing literature and potential applications of such OoC systems for male reproduction in combination with novel bio-engineering and analytical tools. We first introduce OoC technology and highlight the opportunities offered in reproductive biology in general. In the subsequent section, we discuss the complex structural and functional organization of the testis and the role of the vasculature-associated testicular niche and fluid dynamics in modulating testis function. Next, we review significant technological breakthroughs in achieving in vitro spermatogenesis in various species and discuss the evidence from microfluidics-based testes culture studies in mouse. Lastly, we discuss a roadmap for the potential applications of the proposed testis-on-chip culture system in the field of primate male infertility, ART and reproductive toxicology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Swati Sharma
- Centre for Reproductive Medicine and Andrology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Bastien Venzac
- Applied Microfluidics for BioEngineering Research, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology and TechMed Centre, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
| | - Thomas Burgers
- Applied Microfluidics for BioEngineering Research, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology and TechMed Centre, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
| | - Séverine Le Gac
- Applied Microfluidics for BioEngineering Research, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology and TechMed Centre, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
| | - Stefan Schlatt
- Centre for Reproductive Medicine and Andrology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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20
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Horowitz LF, Rodriguez AD, Au-Yeung A, Bishop KW, Barner LA, Mishra G, Raman A, Delgado P, Liu JTC, Gujral TS, Mehrabi M, Yang M, Pierce RH, Folch A. Microdissected "cuboids" for microfluidic drug testing of intact tissues. LAB ON A CHIP 2021; 21:122-142. [PMID: 33174580 PMCID: PMC8205430 DOI: 10.1039/d0lc00801j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
As preclinical animal tests often do not accurately predict drug effects later observed in humans, most drugs under development fail to reach the market. Thus there is a critical need for functional drug testing platforms that use human, intact tissues to complement animal studies. To enable future multiplexed delivery of many drugs to one small biopsy, we have developed a multi-well microfluidic platform that selectively treats cuboidal-shaped microdissected tissues or "cuboids" with well-preserved tissue microenvironments. We create large numbers of uniformly-sized cuboids by semi-automated sectioning of tissue with a commercially available tissue chopper. Here we demonstrate the microdissection method on normal mouse liver, which we characterize with quantitative 3D imaging, and on human glioma xenograft tumors, which we evaluate after time in culture for viability and preservation of the microenvironment. The benefits of size uniformity include lower heterogeneity in future biological assays as well as facilitation of their physical manipulation by automation. Our prototype platform consists of a microfluidic circuit whose hydrodynamic traps immobilize the live cuboids in arrays at the bottom of a multi-well plate. Fluid dynamics simulations enabled the rapid evaluation of design alternatives and operational parameters. We demonstrate the proof-of-concept application of model soluble compounds such as dyes (CellTracker, Hoechst) and the cancer drug cisplatin. Upscaling of the microfluidic platform and microdissection method to larger arrays and numbers of cuboids could lead to direct testing of human tissues at high throughput, and thus could have a significant impact on drug discovery and personalized medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa F Horowitz
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
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21
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Shi Y, Cai Y, Cao Y, Hong Z, Chai Y. Recent advances in microfluidic technology and applications for anti-cancer drug screening. Trends Analyt Chem 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.trac.2020.116118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
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22
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Belanger MC, Anbaei P, Dunn AF, Kinman AW, Pompano RR. Spatially Resolved Analytical Chemistry in Intact, Living Tissues. Anal Chem 2020; 92:15255-15262. [PMID: 33201681 PMCID: PMC7864589 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c03625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Tissues are an exciting frontier for bioanalytical chemistry, one in which spatial distribution is just as important as total content. Intact tissue preserves the native cellular and molecular organization and the cell-cell contacts found in vivo. Live tissue, in particular, offers the potential to analyze dynamic events in a spatially resolved manner, leading to fundamental biological insights and translational discoveries. In this Perspective, we provide a tutorial on the four fundamental challenges for the bioanalytical chemist working in living tissue samples as well as best practices for mitigating them. The challenges include (i) the complexity of the sample matrix, which contributes myriad interfering species and causes nonspecific binding of reagents; (ii) hindered delivery and mixing; (iii) the need to maintain physiological conditions; and (iv) tissue reactivity. This framework is relevant to a variety of methods for spatially resolved chemical analysis, including optical imaging, inserted sensors and probes such as electrodes, and surface analyses such as sensing arrays. The discussion focuses primarily on ex vivo tissues, though many considerations are relevant in vivo as well. Our goal is to convey the exciting potential of analytical chemistry to contribute to understanding the functions of live, intact tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maura C. Belanger
- Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, PO BOX 400319, Charlottesville, VA 22904
| | - Parastoo Anbaei
- Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, PO BOX 400319, Charlottesville, VA 22904
| | - Austin F. Dunn
- Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, PO BOX 400319, Charlottesville, VA 22904
| | - Andrew W.L. Kinman
- Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, PO BOX 400319, Charlottesville, VA 22904
| | - Rebecca R. Pompano
- Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, PO BOX 400319, Charlottesville, VA 22904
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23
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Application of an open-chamber multi-channel microfluidic device to test chemotherapy drugs. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20343. [PMID: 33230163 PMCID: PMC7683738 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77324-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2020] [Accepted: 11/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The use of precision medicine for chemotherapy requires the individualization of the therapeutic regimen for each patient. This approach improves treatment efficacy and reduces the probability of administering ineffective drugs. To ensure accurate decision-making in a timely manner, anticancer drug efficacy tests must be performed within a short timeframe using a small number of cancer cells. These requirements can be satisfied via microfluidics-based drug screening platforms, which are composed of complex fluidic channels and closed systems. Owing to their complexity, skilled manipulation is required. In this study, we developed a microfluidic platform, to accurately perform multiple drug efficacy tests using a small number of cells, which can be conducted via simple manipulation. As it is a small, open-chamber system, a minimal number of cells could be loaded through simple pipetting. Furthermore, the extracellular matrix gel inside the chamber provides an in vivo-like environment that enables the localized delivery of the drugs to spontaneously diffuse from the channels underneath the chamber without a pump, thereby efficiently and robustly testing the efficacy and resistance of multiple drugs. We demonstrated that this platform enabled the rapid and facile testing of multiple drugs using a small number of cells (~ 10,000) over a short period of time (~ 2 days). These results provide the possibility of using this powerful platform for selecting therapeutic medication, developing new drugs, and delivering personalized medicine to patients.
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24
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Cui Y, Li Y, Wang K, Deng J, Luo G. Determination of Dynamic Interfacial Tension during the Generation of Tiny Droplets in the Liquid-Liquid Jetting Flow Regime. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2020; 36:13633-13641. [PMID: 33147955 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c02459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Liquid-liquid dispersion coupled with droplet formation and mass transfer of surfactants is one of the most typical phenomena in many chemical processes. As in every aspect of this process, the interfacial tension variation caused by the unsaturated adsorption of surfactants on the droplet surface plays an important role. This article focuses on microdroplet formation and the dynamic interfacial behavior of surfactants in the jetting regime. In a capillary embedded step T-junction device, controllable preparation of monodisperse droplets is achieved, and a correlation for predicting droplet sizes is established. A method for measuring the dynamic interfacial tension is provided. Mass transfer coefficients are then calculated for Tween 20 during the droplet formation process by a semiempirical correlation. The results indicate that dynamic interfacial tensions are lower than those obtained when the surfactant is adsorbed to equilibrium. Based on the tip-streaming phenomenon, mass transfer coefficients for Tween 20 can reach up to ∼10-3 m/s, higher than those obtained in coaxial microfluidic devices. All the preliminary results shed light on the nature of droplet formation and will be of significance for application in industrial apparatuses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongjin Cui
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Yankai Li
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Kai Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Jian Deng
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Guangsheng Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
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25
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Lovett ML, Nieland TJ, Dingle YTL, Kaplan DL. Innovations in 3-Dimensional Tissue Models of Human Brain Physiology and Diseases. ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS 2020; 30:1909146. [PMID: 34211358 PMCID: PMC8240470 DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201909146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2019] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
3-dimensional (3D) laboratory tissue cultures have emerged as an alternative to traditional 2-dimensional (2D) culture systems that do not recapitulate native cell behavior. The discrepancy between in vivo and in vitro tissue-cell-molecular responses impedes understanding of human physiology in general and creates roadblocks for the discovery of therapeutic solutions. Two parallel approaches have emerged for the design of 3D culture systems. The first is biomedical engineering methodology, including bioengineered materials, bioprinting, microfluidics and bioreactors, used alone or in combination, to mimic the microenvironments of native tissues. The second approach is organoid technology, in which stem cells are exposed to chemical and/or biological cues to activate differentiation programs that are reminiscent of human (prenatal) development. This review article describes recent technological advances in engineering 3D cultures that more closely resemble the human brain. The contributions of in vitro 3D tissue culture systems to new insights in neurophysiology, neurological diseases and regenerative medicine are highlighted. Perspectives on designing improved tissue models of the human brain are offered, focusing on an integrative approach merging biomedical engineering tools with organoid biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael L. Lovett
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, 4 Colby Street, Medford, MA 02155
| | - Thomas J.F. Nieland
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, 4 Colby Street, Medford, MA 02155
| | - Yu-Ting L. Dingle
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, 4 Colby Street, Medford, MA 02155
| | - David L. Kaplan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, 4 Colby Street, Medford, MA 02155
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26
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Modeling Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Efficacy in Syngeneic Mouse Tumors in an Ex Vivo Immuno-Oncology Dynamic Environment. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21186478. [PMID: 32899865 PMCID: PMC7555450 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21186478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2020] [Revised: 08/20/2020] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The immune checkpoint blockade represents a revolution in cancer therapy, with the potential to increase survival for many patients for whom current treatments are not effective. However, response rates to current immune checkpoint inhibitors vary widely between patients and different types of cancer, and the mechanisms underlying these varied responses are poorly understood. Insights into the antitumor activities of checkpoint inhibitors are often obtained using syngeneic mouse models, which provide an in vivo preclinical basis for predicting efficacy in human clinical trials. Efforts to establish in vitro syngeneic mouse equivalents, which could increase throughput and permit real-time evaluation of lymphocyte infiltration and tumor killing, have been hampered by difficulties in recapitulating the tumor microenvironment in laboratory systems. Here, we describe a multiplex in vitro system that overcomes many of the deficiencies seen in current static histocultures, which we applied to the evaluation of checkpoint blockade in tumors derived from syngeneic mouse models. Our system enables both precision-controlled perfusion across biopsied tumor fragments and the introduction of checkpoint-inhibited tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in a single experiment. Through real-time high-resolution confocal imaging and analytics, we demonstrated excellent correlations between in vivo syngeneic mouse and in vitro tumor biopsy responses to checkpoint inhibitors, suggesting the use of this platform for higher throughput evaluation of checkpoint efficacy as a tool for drug development.
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27
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Rismanian M, Saidi MS, Kashaninejad N. A microfluidic concentration gradient generator for simultaneous delivery of two reagents on a millimeter-sized sample. J Flow Chem 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s41981-020-00104-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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28
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de Hoyos-Vega JM, Gonzalez-Suarez AM, Garcia-Cordero JL. A versatile microfluidic device for multiple ex vivo/in vitro tissue assays unrestrained from tissue topography. MICROSYSTEMS & NANOENGINEERING 2020; 6:40. [PMID: 34567653 PMCID: PMC8433291 DOI: 10.1038/s41378-020-0156-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2019] [Revised: 03/04/2020] [Accepted: 03/12/2020] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Precision-cut tissue slices are an important in vitro system to study organ function because they preserve most of the native cellular microenvironments of organs, including complex intercellular connections. However, during sample manipulation or slicing, some of the natural surface topology and structure of these tissues is lost or damaged. Here, we introduce a microfluidic platform to perform multiple assays on the surface of a tissue section, unhindered by surface topography. The device consists of a valve on one side and eight open microchannels located on the opposite side, with the tissue section sandwiched between these two structures. When the valve is actuated, eight independent microfluidic channels are formed over a tissue section. This strategy prevents cross-contamination when performing assays and enables parallelization. Using irregular tissues such as an aorta, we conducted multiple in vitro and ex vivo assays on tissue sections, including short-term culturing, a drug toxicity assay, a fluorescence immunohistochemistry staining assay, and an immune cell assay, in which we observed the interaction of neutrophils with lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated endothelium. Our microfluidic platform can be employed in other disciplines, such as tissue physiology and pathophysiology, morphogenesis, drug toxicity and efficiency, metabolism studies, and diagnostics, enabling the conduction of several assays with a single biopsy sample.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jose M. de Hoyos-Vega
- Unidad Monterrey, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, Via del conocimiento 201, Parque PIIT, Apodaca, NL 66628 Mexico
| | - Alan M. Gonzalez-Suarez
- Unidad Monterrey, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, Via del conocimiento 201, Parque PIIT, Apodaca, NL 66628 Mexico
| | - Jose L. Garcia-Cordero
- Unidad Monterrey, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, Via del conocimiento 201, Parque PIIT, Apodaca, NL 66628 Mexico
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29
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Horowitz LF, Rodriguez AD, Dereli-Korkut Z, Lin R, Castro K, Mikheev AM, Monnat RJ, Folch A, Rostomily RC. Multiplexed drug testing of tumor slices using a microfluidic platform. NPJ Precis Oncol 2020; 4:12. [PMID: 32435696 PMCID: PMC7237421 DOI: 10.1038/s41698-020-0117-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2019] [Accepted: 03/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Current methods to assess the drug response of individual human cancers are often inaccurate, costly, or slow. Functional approaches that rapidly and directly assess the response of patient cancer tissue to drugs or small molecules offer a promising way to improve drug testing, and have the potential to identify the best therapy for individual patients. We developed a digitally manufactured microfluidic platform for multiplexed drug testing of intact cancer slice cultures, and demonstrate the use of this platform to evaluate drug responses in slice cultures from human glioma xenografts and patient tumor biopsies. This approach retains much of the tissue microenvironment and can provide results rapidly enough, within days of surgery, to guide the choice of effective initial therapies. Our results establish a useful preclinical platform for cancer drug testing and development with the potential to improve cancer personalized medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- L. F. Horowitz
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
- Department of Neurosurgery, Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
- Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
| | - A. D. Rodriguez
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
| | - Z. Dereli-Korkut
- Department of Neurosurgery, Houston Methodist Hospital and Research Institute, Houston, TX USA
| | - R. Lin
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
| | - K. Castro
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
| | - A. M. Mikheev
- Department of Neurosurgery, Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
- Department of Neurosurgery, Houston Methodist Hospital and Research Institute, Houston, TX USA
| | - R. J. Monnat
- Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
| | - A. Folch
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
| | - R. C. Rostomily
- Department of Neurosurgery, Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
- Department of Neurosurgery, Houston Methodist Hospital and Research Institute, Houston, TX USA
- Weill Cornell School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, New York, NY USA
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30
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Rodriguez A, Horowitz L, Castro K, Kenerson H, Bhattacharjee N, Gandhe G, Raman A, Monnat RJ, Yeung R, Rostomily R, Folch A. A microfluidic platform for functional testing of cancer drugs on intact tumor slices. LAB ON A CHIP 2020; 20:1658-1675. [PMID: 32270149 PMCID: PMC7679198 DOI: 10.1039/c9lc00811j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Present approaches to assess cancer treatments are often inaccurate, costly, and/or cumbersome. Functional testing platforms that use live tumor cells are a promising tool both for drug development and for identifying the optimal therapy for a given patient, i.e. precision oncology. However, current methods that utilize patient-derived cells from dissociated tissue typically lack the microenvironment of the tumor tissue and/or cannot inform on a timescale rapid enough to guide decisions for patient-specific therapy. We have developed a microfluidic platform that allows for multiplexed drug testing of intact tumor slices cultured on a porous membrane. The device is digitally-manufactured in a biocompatible thermoplastic by laser-cutting and solvent bonding. Here we describe the fabrication process in detail, we characterize the fluidic performance of the device, and demonstrate on-device drug-response testing with tumor slices from xenografts and from a patient colorectal tumor.
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Affiliation(s)
- A.D Rodriguez
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA
- corresponding author:
| | - L.F Horowitz
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA
- Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - K. Castro
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA
| | - H. Kenerson
- Department of Surgery, University of Washington Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - N. Bhattacharjee
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA
| | - G. Gandhe
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA
| | - A. Raman
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA
| | - R. J. Monnat
- Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - R. Yeung
- Department of Surgery, University of Washington Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - R.C. Rostomily
- Department of Neurosurgery, Houston Methodist Hospital and Research Institute, Houston, TX, USA
- Weill Cornell School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery
| | - A. Folch
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA
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31
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Wan L, Neumann CA, LeDuc PR. Tumor-on-a-chip for integrating a 3D tumor microenvironment: chemical and mechanical factors. LAB ON A CHIP 2020; 20:873-888. [PMID: 32025687 PMCID: PMC7067141 DOI: 10.1039/c9lc00550a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Tumor progression, including metastasis, is significantly influenced by factors in the tumor microenvironment (TME) such as mechanical force, shear stress, chemotaxis, and hypoxia. At present, most cancer studies investigate tumor metastasis by conventional cell culture methods and animal models, which are limited in data interpretation. Although patient tissue analysis, such as human patient-derived xenografts (PDX), can provide important clinical relevant information, they may not be feasible for functional studies as they are costly and time-consuming. Thus, in vitro three-dimensional (3D) models are rapidly being developed that mimic TME and allow functional investigations of metastatic mechanisms and drug responses. One of those new 3D models is tumor-on-a-chip technology that provides a powerful in vitro platform for cancer research, with the ability to mimic the complex physiological architecture and precise spatiotemporal control. Tumor-on-a-chip technology can provide integrated features including 3D scaffolding, multicellular culture, and a vasculature system to simulate dynamic flow in vivo. Here, we review a select set of recent achievements in tumor-on-a-chip approaches and present potential directions for tumor-on-a-chip systems in the future for areas including mechanical and chemical mimetic systems. We also discuss challenges and perspectives in both biological factors and engineering methods for tumor-on-a-chip progress. These approaches will allow in the future for the tumor-on-a-chip systems to test therapeutic approaches for individuals through using their cancerous cells gathered through approaches like biopsies, which then will contribute toward personalized medicine treatments for improving their outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Wan
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213 US.
| | - C A Neumann
- Department of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Hillman Cancer Center, Magee Womens Research Institute, 204 Craft Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213 US.
| | - P R LeDuc
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213 US.
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32
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A tool for designing tree-like concentration gradient generators for lab-on-a-chip applications. Chem Eng Sci 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ces.2019.115339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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33
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Horowitz LF, Rodriguez AD, Ray T, Folch A. Microfluidics for interrogating live intact tissues. MICROSYSTEMS & NANOENGINEERING 2020; 6:69. [PMID: 32879734 PMCID: PMC7443437 DOI: 10.1038/s41378-020-0164-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2020] [Revised: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 03/12/2020] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
The intricate microarchitecture of tissues - the "tissue microenvironment" - is a strong determinant of tissue function. Microfluidics offers an invaluable tool to precisely stimulate, manipulate, and analyze the tissue microenvironment in live tissues and engineer mass transport around and into small tissue volumes. Such control is critical in clinical studies, especially where tissue samples are scarce, in analytical sensors, where testing smaller amounts of analytes results in faster, more portable sensors, and in biological experiments, where accurate control of the cellular microenvironment is needed. Microfluidics also provides inexpensive multiplexing strategies to address the pressing need to test large quantities of drugs and reagents on a single biopsy specimen, increasing testing accuracy, relevance, and speed while reducing overall diagnostic cost. Here, we review the use of microfluidics to study the physiology and pathophysiology of intact live tissues at sub-millimeter scales. We categorize uses as either in vitro studies - where a piece of an organism must be excised and introduced into the microfluidic device - or in vivo studies - where whole organisms are small enough to be introduced into microchannels or where a microfluidic device is interfaced with a live tissue surface (e.g. the skin or inside an internal organ or tumor) that forms part of an animal larger than the device. These microfluidic systems promise to deliver functional measurements obtained directly on intact tissue - such as the response of tissue to drugs or the analysis of tissue secretions - that cannot be obtained otherwise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa F. Horowitz
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
| | - Adán D. Rodriguez
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
| | - Tyler Ray
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822 USA
| | - Albert Folch
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
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34
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Ni BS, Tzao C, Huang JH. Plug-and-Play In Vitro Metastasis System toward Recapitulating the Metastatic Cascade. Sci Rep 2019; 9:18110. [PMID: 31792319 PMCID: PMC6889311 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-54711-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2019] [Accepted: 11/11/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Microfluidic-based tumor models that mimic tumor culture environment have been developed to understand the cancer metastasis mechanism and discover effective antimetastatic drugs. These models successfully recapitulated key steps of metastatic cascades, yet still limited to few metastatic steps, operation difficulty, and small molecule absorption. In this study, we developed a metastasis system made of biocompatible and drug resistance plastics to recapitulate each metastasis stage in three-dimensional (3D) mono- and co-cultures formats, enabling the investigation of the metastatic responses of cancer cells (A549-GFP). The plug-and-play feature enhances the efficiency of the experimental setup and avoids initial culture failures. The results demonstrate that cancer cells tended to proliferate and migrate with circulating flow and intravasated across the porous membrane after a period of 3 d when they were treated with transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1) or co-cultured with human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMECs). The cells were also observed to detach and migrate into the circulating flow after a period of 20 d, indicating that they transformed into circulating tumor cells for the next metastasis stage. We envision this metastasis system can provide novel insights that would aid in fully understanding the entire mechanism of tumor invasion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bing-Syuan Ni
- Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, 30013, Taiwan
| | - Ching Tzao
- Kuang Tien General Hospital, Taichung, 43303, Taiwan
| | - Jen-Huang Huang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, 30013, Taiwan.
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35
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Cheng JW, Sip CG, Lindstedt PR, Boitano R, Bluestein BM, Gamble LJ, Folch A. “Chip-on-a-Transwell” Devices for User-Friendly Control of the Microenvironment of Cultured Cells. ACS APPLIED BIO MATERIALS 2019; 2:4998-5011. [DOI: 10.1021/acsabm.9b00672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan W. Cheng
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Box 355061, Seattle, Washington 98195-5061, United States
| | - Christopher G. Sip
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Box 355061, Seattle, Washington 98195-5061, United States
| | - Philip R. Lindstedt
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Box 355061, Seattle, Washington 98195-5061, United States
| | - Ross Boitano
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Box 355061, Seattle, Washington 98195-5061, United States
| | - Blake M. Bluestein
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Box 355061, Seattle, Washington 98195-5061, United States
| | - Lara J. Gamble
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Box 355061, Seattle, Washington 98195-5061, United States
| | - Albert Folch
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Box 355061, Seattle, Washington 98195-5061, United States
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36
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Rumaner M, Horowitz L, Ovadya A, Folch A. Thread as a Low-Cost Material for Microfluidic Assays on Intact Tumor Slices. MICROMACHINES 2019; 10:mi10070481. [PMID: 31319620 PMCID: PMC6680473 DOI: 10.3390/mi10070481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2019] [Revised: 07/13/2019] [Accepted: 07/13/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
In this paper we describe the use of thread as a low-cost material for a microfluidic chemosensitivity assay that uses intact tumor tissue ex vivo. Today, the need for new and effective cancer treatments is greater than ever, but unfortunately, the cost of developing new chemotherapy drugs has never been higher. Implementation of low-cost microfluidic techniques into drug screening devices could potentially mitigate some of the immense cost of drug development. Thread is an ideal material for use in drug screening as it is inexpensive, widely available, and can transport liquid without external pumping hardware, i.e., via capillary action. We have developed an inexpensive microfluidic delivery prototype that uses silk threads to selectively deliver fluids onto subregions of living xenograft tumor slices. Our device can be fabricated completely for less than $0.25 in materials and requires no external equipment to operate. We found that by varying thread materials, we could optimize device characteristics, such as flow rate; we specifically explored the behavior of silk, nylon, cotton, and polyester. The incremental cost of our device is insignificant compared to the tissue culture supplies. The use of thread as a microfluidic material has the potential to produce inexpensive, accessible, and user-friendly devices for drug testing that are especially suited for low-resource settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxwell Rumaner
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, 3720 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105, USA.
| | - Lisa Horowitz
- Department of Pathology, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific St, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Avital Ovadya
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, 3720 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Albert Folch
- Department of Pathology, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific St, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
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37
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Cheng F, Cao X, Li H, Liu T, Xie X, Huang D, Maharjan S, Bei HP, Gómez A, Li J, Zhan H, Shen H, Liu S, He J, Zhang YS. Generation of Cost-Effective Paper-Based Tissue Models through Matrix-Assisted Sacrificial 3D Printing. NANO LETTERS 2019; 19:3603-3611. [PMID: 31010289 PMCID: PMC6820351 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.9b00583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Due to the combined advantages of cellulose and nanoscale (diameter 20-60 nm), bacterial cellulose possesses a series of attractive features including its natural origin, moderate biosynthesis process, good biocompatibility, and cost-effectiveness. Moreover, bacterial cellulose nanofibers can be conveniently processed into three-dimensional (3D) intertwined structures and form stable paper devices after simple drying. These advantages make it suitable as the material for construction of organ-on-a-chip devices using matrix-assisted sacrificial 3D printing. We successfully fabricated various microchannel structures embedded in the bulk bacterial cellulose hydrogels and retained their integrity after the drying process. Interestingly, these paper-based devices containing hollow microchannels could be rehydrated and populated with relevant cells to form vascularized tissue models. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, we seeded human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) into the microchannels to obtain the vasculature and inoculated the MCF-7 cells onto the surrounding matrix of the paper device to build a 3D paper-based vascularized breast tumor model. The results showed that the microchannels were perfusable, and both HUVECs and MCF-7 cells exhibited favorable proliferation behaviors. This study may provide a new strategy for constructing simple and low-cost in vitro tissue models, which may find potential applications in drug screening and personalized medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng Cheng
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
- MIIT Key Laboratory of Critical Materials Technology for New Energy Conversion and Storage, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, P.R. China
| | - Xia Cao
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
- Department of Pharmaceutics and Tissue Engineering, School of Pharmacy, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, P.R. China
| | - Hongbin Li
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
- MIIT Key Laboratory of Critical Materials Technology for New Energy Conversion and Storage, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, P.R. China
| | - Tingting Liu
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Xin Xie
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Di Huang
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Sushila Maharjan
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Ho Pan Bei
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Ameyalli Gómez
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Jun Li
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Haoqun Zhan
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
- Salisbury School, Salisbury, Connecticut 06068, United States
| | - Haokai Shen
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
- Loomis Chaffee School, Windsor, Connecticut 06095, United States
| | - Sanwei Liu
- Micropower and Nanoengineering Lab, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Jinmei He
- MIIT Key Laboratory of Critical Materials Technology for New Energy Conversion and Storage, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, P.R. China
| | - Yu Shrike Zhang
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
- Corresponding Author. Phone number: +1-617-768-8221
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Kuo AP, Bhattacharjee N, Lee YS, Castro K, Kim YT, Folch A. High-Precision Stereolithography of Biomicrofluidic Devices. ADVANCED MATERIALS TECHNOLOGIES 2019; 4:1800395. [PMID: 32490168 PMCID: PMC7266111 DOI: 10.1002/admt.201800395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2018] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Stereolithography (SL) is emerging as an attractive alternative to soft lithography for fabricating microfluidic devices due to its low cost and high design efficiency. Low molecular weight poly(ethylene glycol)diacrylate (MW = 258) (PEG-DA-258) has been used for SL 3D-printing of biocompatible microdevices at submillimeter resolution. However, 3D-printing resins that simultaneously feature high transparency, high biocompatibility, and high resolution are still lacking. It is found that photosensitizer isopropyl thioxanthone can, in a concentration-dependent manner, increase the absorbance of the resin (containing PEG-DA-258 and photoinitator Irgacure-819) by over an order of magnitude. This increase in absorbance allows for SL printing of microdevices at sub pixel resolution with commercially available desktop printers and without compromising transparency or biocompatibility. The assembly-free, rapid (<15 h) 3D-printing of a variety of complex 3D microfluidic devices such as a 3D-fluid router, a passive chaotic micro-mixer, an active micro-mixer with pneumatic microvalves, and high-aspect ratio (37:1) microchannels of single pixel width is demonstrated. These manufacturing capabilities are unavailable in conventional microfluidic rapid prototyping techniques. The low absorption of small hydrophobic molecules and microfluidic labeling of cultured mammalian cells in 3D-printed PEG-DA-258 microdevices is demonstrated, indicating the potential of PEG-DA-based fabrication of cell-based assays, drug discovery, and organ-on-chip platforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra P Kuo
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | | | - Yuan-Sheng Lee
- Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Kurt Castro
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Yong Tae Kim
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Albert Folch
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington Seattle, WA 98195, USA
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Kennedy R, Kuvshinov D, Sdrolia A, Kuvshinova E, Hilton K, Crank S, Beavis AW, Green V, Greenman J. A patient tumour-on-a-chip system for personalised investigation of radiotherapy based treatment regimens. Sci Rep 2019; 9:6327. [PMID: 31004114 PMCID: PMC6474873 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-42745-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2018] [Accepted: 04/01/2019] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Development of personalised cancer models to predict response to radiation would benefit patient care; particularly in malignancies where treatment resistance is prevalent. Herein, a robust, easy to use, tumour-on-a-chip platform which maintains precision cut head and neck cancer for the purpose of ex vivo irradiation is described. The device utilises sintered discs to separate the biopsy and medium, mimicking in vivo microvascular flow and diffusion, maintaining tissue viability for 68 h. Integrity of tissues is demonstrated by the low levels of lactate dehydrogenase release and retained histology, accompanied by assessment of cell viability by trypan blue exclusion and flow cytometry; fluid dynamic modelling validates culture conditions. An irradiation jig is described for reproducible delivery of clinically-relevant doses (5 × 2 Gy) to newly-presenting primary tumours (n = 12); the addition of concurrent cisplatin is also investigated (n = 8) with response analysed by immunohistochemistry. Fractionated irradiation reduced proliferation (BrdU, p = 0.0064), increased DNA damage (ƴH2AX, p = 0.0043) and caspase-dependent apoptosis (caspase-cleaved cytokeratin-18) compared to control; caspase-dependent apoptosis was further increased by concurrent cisplatin compared to control (p = 0.0063). This is a proof of principle study showing the response of cancer tissue to irradiation ex vivo in a bespoke system. The novel platform described has the potential to personalise treatment for patients in a cost-effective manner with applicability to any solid tumour.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Kennedy
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, UK
| | - D Kuvshinov
- School of Engineering & Computer Science, The University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, UK
| | - A Sdrolia
- Department of Medical Physics, Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Cottingham, UK
| | - E Kuvshinova
- Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - K Hilton
- Department of Medical Physics, Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Cottingham, UK
| | - S Crank
- Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Hull, UK
| | - A W Beavis
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, UK
- Department of Medical Physics, Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Cottingham, UK
- Faculty of Health and Well Being, Sheffield-Hallam University, Sheffield, UK
| | - V Green
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, UK
| | - J Greenman
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, UK.
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40
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Riley A, Green V, Cheah R, McKenzie G, Karsai L, England J, Greenman J. A novel microfluidic device capable of maintaining functional thyroid carcinoma specimens ex vivo provides a new drug screening platform. BMC Cancer 2019; 19:259. [PMID: 30902086 PMCID: PMC6429713 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-019-5465-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2018] [Accepted: 03/13/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Though the management of malignancies has improved vastly in recent years, many treatment options lack the desired efficacy and fail to adequately augment patient morbidity and mortality. It is increasingly clear that patient response to therapy is unique to each individual, necessitating personalised, or 'precision' medical care. This demand extends to thyroid cancer; ~ 10% patients fail to respond to radioiodine treatment due to loss of phenotypic differentiation, exposing the patient to unnecessary ionising radiation, as well as delaying treatment with alternative therapies. METHODS Human thyroid tissue (n = 23, malignant and benign) was live-sliced (5 mm diameter × 350-500 μm thickness) then analysed or incorporated into a microfluidic culture device for 96 h (37 °C). Successful maintenance of tissue was verified by histological (H&E), flow cytometric propidium iodide or trypan blue uptake, immunohistochemical (Ki67 detection/ BrdU incorporation) and functional analysis (thyroxine [T4] output) in addition to analysis of culture effluent for the cell death markers lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and dead-cell protease (DCP). Apoptosis was investigated by Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL). Differentiation was assessed by evaluation of thyroid transcription factor (TTF1) and sodium iodide symporter (NIS) expression (western blotting). RESULTS Maintenance of gross tissue architecture was observed. Analysis of dissociated primary thyroid cells using flow cytometry both prior to and post culture demonstrated no significant change in the proportion of viable cells. LDH and DCP release from on-chip thyroid tissue indicated that after an initial raised level of release, signifying cellular damage, detectable levels dropped markedly. A significant increase in apoptosis (p < 0.01) was observed after tissue was perfused with etoposide and JNK inhibitor, but not in control tissue incubated for the same time period. No significant difference in Ki-67 positivity or TTF1/NIS expression was detected between fresh and post-culture thyroid tissue samples, moreover BrdU positive nuclei indicated on-chip cellular proliferation. Cultured thyroid explants were functionally viable as determined by production of T4 throughout the culture period. CONCLUSIONS The described microfluidic platform can maintain the viability of thyroid tissue slices ex vivo for a minimum of four days, providing a platform for the assessment of thyroid tissue radioiodine sensitivity/adjuvant therapies in real time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Riley
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hull, Kingston upon Hull, HU6 7RX UK
| | - Victoria Green
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hull, Kingston upon Hull, HU6 7RX UK
| | - Ramsah Cheah
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hull, Kingston upon Hull, HU6 7RX UK
| | - Gordon McKenzie
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hull, Kingston upon Hull, HU6 7RX UK
- Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, Kingston upon Hull, HU6 7RX UK
| | - Laszlo Karsai
- Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Kingston upon Hull, HU16 5JQ UK
| | - James England
- Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Kingston upon Hull, HU16 5JQ UK
| | - John Greenman
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hull, Kingston upon Hull, HU6 7RX UK
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Dhiman N, Kingshott P, Sumer H, Sharma CS, Rath SN. On-chip anticancer drug screening - Recent progress in microfluidic platforms to address challenges in chemotherapy. Biosens Bioelectron 2019; 137:236-254. [PMID: 31121461 DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2019.02.070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2018] [Revised: 02/27/2019] [Accepted: 02/27/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
There is an increasing need for advanced and inexpensive preclinical models to accelerate the development of anticancer drugs. While costly animal models fail to predict human clinical outcomes, in vitro models such as microfluidic chips ('tumor-on-chip') are showing tremendous promise at predicting and providing meaningful preclinical drug screening outcomes. Research on 'tumor-on-chips' has grown enormously worldwide and is being widely accepted by pharmaceutical companies as a drug development tool. In light of this shift in philosophy, it is important to review the recent literature on microfluidic devices to determine how rapidly the technology has progressed as a promising model for drug screening and aiding cancer therapy. We review the past five years of successful developments and capabilities in microdevice technology (cancer models) for use in anticancer drug screening. Microfluidic devices that are being designed to address current challenges in chemotherapy, such as drug resistance, combinatorial drug therapy, personalized medicine, and cancer metastasis are also reviewed in detail. We provide a perspective on how personalized 'tumor-on-chip', as well as high-throughput microfluidic platforms based on patient-specific tumor cells, can potentially replace the more expensive and 'non-human' animal models in preclinical anticancer drug development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nandini Dhiman
- Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Kandi, Telangana, India; Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Engineering Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia
| | - Peter Kingshott
- Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Engineering Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia
| | - Huseyin Sumer
- Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Engineering Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia
| | - Chandra S Sharma
- Creative & Advanced Research Based On Nanomaterials Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Kandi, Telangana, India
| | - Subha Narayan Rath
- Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Kandi, Telangana, India.
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Simeone K, Guay-Lord R, Lateef MA, Péant B, Kendall-Dupont J, Orimoto AM, Carmona E, Provencher D, Saad F, Gervais T, Mes-Masson AM. Paraffin-embedding lithography and micro-dissected tissue micro-arrays: tools for biological and pharmacological analysis of ex vivo solid tumors. LAB ON A CHIP 2019; 19:693-705. [PMID: 30671574 DOI: 10.1039/c8lc00982a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
There is an urgent need and strong clinical and pharmaceutical interest in developing assays that allow for the direct testing of therapeutic agents on primary tissues. Current technologies fail to provide the required sample longevity, throughput, and integration with standard clinically proven assays to make the approach viable. Here we report a microfluidic micro-histological platform that enables ex vivo culture of a large array of prostate and ovarian cancer micro-dissected tissue (MDT) followed by direct on-chip fixation and paraffination, a process we term paraffin-embedding lithography (PEL). The result is a high density MDT-Micro Array (MDTMA) compatible with standard clinical histopathology that can be used to analyse ex vivo tumor response or resistance to therapeutic agents. The cellular morphology and tissue architecture are preserved in MDTs throughout the 15 day culture period. We also demonstrate how this methodology can be used to study molecular pathways involved in cancer by performing in-depth characterization of biological and pharmacological mechanisms such as p65 nuclear translocation via TNF stimuli, and to predict the treatment outcome in the clinic via MDT response to taxane-based therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kayla Simeone
- Centre de recherche du CHUM (CRCHUM)/Institut du Cancer de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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Catterton MA, Dunn AF, Pompano RR. User-defined local stimulation of live tissue through a movable microfluidic port. LAB ON A CHIP 2018; 18:2003-2012. [PMID: 29904762 PMCID: PMC6039252 DOI: 10.1039/c8lc00204e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Many in vivo tissue responses begin locally, yet most in vitro stimuli are delivered globally. Microfluidics has a unique ability to provide focal stimulation to tissue samples with precise control over fluid location, flow rate, and composition. However, previous devices utilizing fixed ports beneath the tissue required manual alignment of the tissue over the ports, increasing the risk of mechanical damage. Here we present a novel microfluidic device that allows the user to define the location of fluid delivery to a living tissue slice without manipulating the tissue itself. The device utilized a two-component SlipChip design to create a mobile port beneath the tissue slice. A culture chamber perforated by an array of ports housed a tissue slice and was separated by a layer of fluorocarbon oil from a single delivery port, fed by a microfluidic channel in the movable layer below. We derived and validated a physical model, based on interfacial tension and flow resistance, to predict the conditions under which fluid delivery occurred without leakage into the gap between layers. Aqueous solution was delivered reproducibly to samples of tissue and gel, and the width of the delivery region was controlled primarily by convection. Tissue slice viability was not affected by stimulation on the device. As a proof-of-principle, we showed that live slices of lymph node tissue could be sequentially targeted for precise stimulation. In the future this device may serve as a platform to study the effects of fluid flow in tissues and to perform local drug screening.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan A Catterton
- Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
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Logun M, Zhao W, Mao L, Karumbaiah L. Microfluidics in Malignant Glioma Research and Precision Medicine. ADVANCED BIOSYSTEMS 2018; 2:1700221. [PMID: 29780878 PMCID: PMC5959050 DOI: 10.1002/adbi.201700221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2017] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive form of brain cancer that has no effective treatments and a prognosis of only 12-15 months. Microfluidic technologies deliver microscale control of fluids and cells, and have aided cancer therapy as point-of-care devices for the diagnosis of breast and prostate cancers. However, a few microfluidic devices are developed to study malignant glioma. The ability of these platforms to accurately replicate the complex microenvironmental and extracellular conditions prevailing in the brain and facilitate the measurement of biological phenomena with high resolution and in a high-throughput manner could prove useful for studying glioma progression. These attributes, coupled with their relatively simple fabrication process, make them attractive for use as point-of-care diagnostic devices for detection and treatment of GBM. Here, the current issues that plague GBM research and treatment, as well as the current state of the art in glioma detection and therapy, are reviewed. Finally, opportunities are identified for implementing microfluidic technologies into research and diagnostics to facilitate the rapid detection and better therapeutic targeting of GBM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meghan Logun
- Regenerative Bioscience Center, ADS Complex, University of Georgia, 425 River Road, Athens, GA 30602-2771, USA
| | - Wujun Zhao
- Department of Chemistry, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-2771, USA
| | - Leidong Mao
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-2771, USA
| | - Lohitash Karumbaiah
- Regenerative Bioscience Center, ADS Complex, University of Georgia, 425 River Road, Athens, GA 30602-2771, USA
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45
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Tsai HF, Trubelja A, Shen AQ, Bao G. Tumour-on-a-chip: microfluidic models of tumour morphology, growth and microenvironment. J R Soc Interface 2018. [PMID: 28637915 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2017.0137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 136] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death, albeit enormous efforts to cure the disease. To overcome the major challenges in cancer therapy, we need to have a better understanding of the tumour microenvironment (TME), as well as a more effective means to screen anti-cancer drug leads; both can be achieved using advanced technologies, including the emerging tumour-on-a-chip technology. Here, we review the recent development of the tumour-on-a-chip technology, which integrates microfluidics, microfabrication, tissue engineering and biomaterials research, and offers new opportunities for building and applying functional three-dimensional in vitro human tumour models for oncology research, immunotherapy studies and drug screening. In particular, tumour-on-a-chip microdevices allow well-controlled microscopic studies of the interaction among tumour cells, immune cells and cells in the TME, of which simple tissue cultures and animal models are not amenable to do. The challenges in developing the next-generation tumour-on-a-chip technology are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsieh-Fu Tsai
- Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan
| | - Alen Trubelja
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Amy Q Shen
- Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan
| | - Gang Bao
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77030, USA
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Microfluidic cell sorting by stiffness to examine heterogenic responses of cancer cells to chemotherapy. Cell Death Dis 2018; 9:239. [PMID: 29445159 PMCID: PMC5833447 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-018-0266-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2017] [Revised: 12/13/2017] [Accepted: 12/18/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Cancers consist of a heterogeneous populations of cells that may respond differently to treatment through drug-resistant sub-populations. The scarcity of these resistant sub-populations makes it challenging to understand how to counter their resistance. We report a label-free microfluidic approach to separate cancer cells treated with chemotherapy into sub-populations enriched in chemoresistant and chemosensitive cells based on the differences in cellular stiffness. The sorting approach enabled analysis of the molecular distinctions between resistant and sensitive cells. Consequently, the role of multiple mechanisms of drug resistance was identified, including decreased sensitivity to apoptosis, enhanced metabolism, and extrusion of drugs, and, for the first time, the role of estrogen receptor in drug resistance of leukemia cells. To validate these findings, several inhibitors for the identified resistance pathways were tested with chemotherapy to increase cytotoxicity sevenfold. Thus, microfluidic sorting can identify molecular mechanisms of drug resistance to examine heterogeneous responses of cancers to therapies.
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Marimuthu M, Rousset N, St-Georges-Robillard A, Lateef MA, Ferland M, Mes-Masson AM, Gervais T. Multi-size spheroid formation using microfluidic funnels. LAB ON A CHIP 2018; 18:304-314. [PMID: 29211088 DOI: 10.1039/c7lc00970d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
We present a microfluidic platform for automatic multi-size spheroid formation within constant volume hanging droplets (HDs) from a single inlet loading of a constant cell concentration. The platform introduces three technological improvements over the existing spheroid formation platforms: 1) cell seeding control is achieved by enrichment of a cell solution rather than dilution; 2) cell seeding in each HD is fully independent and pre-programmable at the design stage; 3) the fabricated chip operates well using a hydrophobic PDMS surface, ensuring long-term storage possibility for device usage. Pre-programmed cell seeding densities at each HD are achieved using a "microfluidic funnel" layer, which has an array of cone-shaped wells with increasing apex angles acting as a metering unit. The integrated platform is designed to form, treat, stain, and image multi-size spheroids on-chip. Spheroids can be analyzed on-chip or easily transferred to conventional well plates for further processing. Empirically, enrichment factors up to 37× have been demonstrated, resulting in viable spheroids of diameters ranging from 230-420 μm and 280-530 μm for OV90 and TOV112D cell lines, respectively. We envision that microfluidic funnels and single inlet multi-size spheroid (SIMSS) chips will find broad application in 3D biological assays where size-dependent responses are expected, including chemoresponse assays, photodynamic therapy assays, and other assays involving drug transport characterization in drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Marimuthu
- Department of Engineering Physics, Polytechnique Montréal, Canada.
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Targeting PTEN in Colorectal Cancers. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2018; 1110:55-73. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-02771-1_5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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Ross AE, Pompano RR. Diffusion of cytokines in live lymph node tissue using microfluidic integrated optical imaging. Anal Chim Acta 2017; 1000:205-213. [PMID: 29289312 DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2017.11.048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2017] [Revised: 11/15/2017] [Accepted: 11/17/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Communication and drug efficacy in the immune system rely heavily on diffusion of proteins such as cytokines through the tissue matrix. Available methods to analyze diffusion in tissue require microinjection or saturating the tissue in protein, which may alter local transport properties due to damage or rapid cellular responses. Here, we developed a novel, user-friendly method - Microfluidic Integrated Optical Imaging (micro-IOI) - to quantify the effective diffusion coefficient of bioactive proteins in live tissue samples ex vivo. A microfluidic platform was used to deliver picograms of fluorescently labelled cytokines to microscale regions within slices of murine lymph node, and diffusion was monitored by widefield fluorescence microscopy. Micro-IOI was validated against theory and existing methods. Free diffusion coefficients were within 8% and 24% of Stokes-Einstein predictions for dextrans and cytokines, respectively. Furthermore, diffusion coefficients for dextrans and proteins in a model matrix were within 1.5-fold of reported results from fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). We used micro-IOI to quantify the effective diffusion of three cytokines from different structural classes and two different expression systems - tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interferon gamma (IFN-γ), and interleukin-2 (IL-2), from human and mouse - through live lymph node tissue. This is the first method to directly measure cytokine transport in live tissue slices, and in the future, it should promote a deeper understanding of the dynamics of cell-cell communication and enable targeted immunotherapy design.
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Affiliation(s)
- A E Ross
- Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, McCormick Rd., PO Box 400319, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
| | - R R Pompano
- Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, McCormick Rd., PO Box 400319, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.
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50
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Sönnichsen R, Hennig L, Blaschke V, Winter K, Körfer J, Hähnel S, Monecke A, Wittekind C, Jansen-Winkeln B, Thieme R, Gockel I, Grosser K, Weimann A, Kubick C, Wiechmann V, Aigner A, Bechmann I, Lordick F, Kallendrusch S. Individual Susceptibility Analysis Using Patient-derived Slice Cultures of Colorectal Carcinoma. Clin Colorectal Cancer 2017; 17:e189-e199. [PMID: 29233603 DOI: 10.1016/j.clcc.2017.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2017] [Revised: 10/18/2017] [Accepted: 11/14/2017] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Nonresponse to chemotherapy in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is still a clinical problem. For most established treatment regimens, no predictive biomarkers are available. Patient-derived tumor slice culture may be a promising ex vivo technology to assess the drug susceptibility in individual tumors. METHODS Patient-derived slice cultures of CRC specimens were prepared according to a standardized protocol and treated with different concentrations of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and an adapted FOLFOX regimen (5-FU and oxaliplatin) to investigate histologic response. Additionally, a semi-automatized readout using fluorescent stain-specific segmentation algorithms for Image J was established to quantify changes in tumor proliferation. Nonresponse to chemotherapy was defined as persisting tumor cell proliferation. RESULTS Slices treated with 5-FU showed lower tumor cell fractions and dose-dependent alterations of proliferating tumor cells compared with controls (1 μM, Δ +3%; 10 μM, Δ -9%; 100 μM, Δ -15%). Individual tumor samples were examined and differences in chemotherapy susceptibility could be observed. Untreated slice cultures contained an average tumor cell fraction of 31% ± 7%. For all samples, the histopathologic characteristics exhibited some degree of intratumoral heterogeneity with regard to tumor cell morphology and distribution. The original tumor matched the features found in slices at baseline and after 3 days of cultivation. CONCLUSIONS Patient-derived slice cultures may help to predict response to clinical treatment in individual patients with CRC. Future studies need to address the problem of tumor heterogeneity and evolution. Prospective correlation of ex vivo results with the clinical course of treated patients is warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rasmus Sönnichsen
- Institute of Anatomy, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; University Cancer Center Leipzig, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Laura Hennig
- Institute of Anatomy, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; University Cancer Center Leipzig, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Vera Blaschke
- Institute of Anatomy, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Karsten Winter
- Institute of Anatomy, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Justus Körfer
- Institute of Anatomy, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; University Cancer Center Leipzig, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Susann Hähnel
- Institute of Anatomy, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Astrid Monecke
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Boris Jansen-Winkeln
- Department of Visceral, Transplantation, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - René Thieme
- Department of Visceral, Transplantation, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Ines Gockel
- Department of Visceral, Transplantation, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Kerstin Grosser
- Department of General and Visceral Surgery, St. Georg Hospital, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Arved Weimann
- Department of General and Visceral Surgery, St. Georg Hospital, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | | | - Achim Aigner
- Rudolf-Boehm-Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology, Clinical Pharmacology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Ingo Bechmann
- Institute of Anatomy, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Florian Lordick
- University Cancer Center Leipzig, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
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