1
|
Dey S, Bhat A, Janani G, Shandilya V, Gupta R, Mandal BB. Microfluidic human physiomimetic liver model as a screening platform for drug induced liver injury. Biomaterials 2024; 310:122627. [PMID: 38823194 DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2024.122627] [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: 01/18/2024] [Revised: 05/02/2024] [Accepted: 05/19/2024] [Indexed: 06/03/2024]
Abstract
The pre-clinical animal models often fail to predict intrinsic and idiosyncratic drug induced liver injury (DILI), thus contributing to drug failures in clinical trials, black box warnings and withdrawal of marketed drugs. This suggests a critical need for human-relevant in vitro models to predict diverse DILI phenotypes. In this study, a porcine liver extracellular matrix (ECM) based biomaterial ink with high printing fidelity, biocompatibility and tunable rheological and mechanical properties is formulated for supporting both parenchymal and non-parenchymal cells. Further, we applied 3D printing and microfluidic technology to bioengineer a human physiomimetic liver acinus model (HPLAM), recapitulating the radial hepatic cord-like structure with functional sinusoidal microvasculature network, biochemical and biophysical properties of native liver acinus. Intriguingly, the human derived hepatic cells incorporated HPLAM cultured under physiologically relevant microenvironment, acts as metabolic biofactories manifesting enhanced hepatic functionality, secretome levels and biomarkers expression over several weeks. We also report that the matured HPLAM reproduces dose- and time-dependent hepatotoxic response of human clinical relevance to drugs typically recognized for inducing diverse DILI phenotypes as compared to conventional static culture. Overall, the developed HPLAM emulates in vivo like functions and may provide a useful platform for DILI risk assessment to better determine safety and human risk.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Souradeep Dey
- Centre for Nanotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, 781039, Assam, India
| | - Amritha Bhat
- Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, 781039, Assam, India
| | - G Janani
- Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, 781039, Assam, India
| | - Vartik Shandilya
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, 781039, Assam, India
| | - Raghvendra Gupta
- Centre for Nanotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, 781039, Assam, India; Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, 781039, Assam, India; Jyoti and Bhupat Mehta School of Health Sciences and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, 781039, Assam, India
| | - Biman B Mandal
- Centre for Nanotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, 781039, Assam, India; Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, 781039, Assam, India; Jyoti and Bhupat Mehta School of Health Sciences and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, 781039, Assam, India.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Ahmadian M, Hosseini S, Alipour A, Jahanfar M, Farrokhi N, Homaeigohar S, Shahsavarani H. In vitro modeling of hepatocellular carcinoma niche on decellularized tomato thorny leaves: a novel natural three-dimensional (3D) scaffold for liver cancer therapeutics. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2023; 11:1189726. [PMID: 37251569 PMCID: PMC10212619 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1189726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Liver cancer is now one of the main causes leading to death worldwide. To achieve reliable therapeutic effects, it is crucial to develop efficient approaches to test novel anticancer drugs. Considering the significant contribution of tumor microenvironment to cell's response to medications, in vitro 3D bioinspiration of cancer cell niches can be regarded as an advanced strategy to improve the accuracy and reliability of the drug-based treatment. In this regard, decellularized plant tissues can perform as suitable 3D scaffolds for mammalian cell culture to create a near-to-real condition to test drug efficacy. Here, we developed a novel 3D natural scaffold made from decellularized tomato hairy leaves (hereafter called as DTL) to mimic the microenvironment of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) for pharmaceutical purposes. The surface hydrophilicity, mechanical properties, and topography measurement and molecular analyses revealed that the 3D DTL scaffold is an ideal candidate for liver cancer modeling. The cells exhibited a higher growth and proliferation rate within the DTL scaffold, as verified by quantifying the expression of related genes, DAPI staining, and SEM imaging of the cells. Moreover, prilocaine, an anticancer drug, showed a higher effectiveness against the cancer cells cultured on the 3D DTL scaffold, compared to a 2D platform. Taken together, this new cellulosic 3D scaffold can be confidently proposed for chemotherapeutic testing of drugs on hepatocellular carcinoma.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mariye Ahmadian
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Life Science and Biotechnology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
- Laboratory of Regenerative Medicine and Biomedical Innovations, Pasteur Institute of Iran, National Cell Bank, Tehran, Iran
| | - Saadi Hosseini
- Laboratory of Regenerative Medicine and Biomedical Innovations, Pasteur Institute of Iran, National Cell Bank, Tehran, Iran
| | - Atefeh Alipour
- Department of Nanobiotechnology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mehdi Jahanfar
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Life Science and Biotechnology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Naser Farrokhi
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Life Science and Biotechnology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Shahin Homaeigohar
- School of Science and Engineering, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Hosein Shahsavarani
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Life Science and Biotechnology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
- Laboratory of Regenerative Medicine and Biomedical Innovations, Pasteur Institute of Iran, National Cell Bank, Tehran, Iran
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Frtús A, Smolková B, Uzhytchak M, Lunova M, Jirsa M, Petrenko Y, Dejneka A, Lunov O. Mechanical Regulation of Mitochondrial Dynamics and Function in a 3D-Engineered Liver Tumor Microenvironment. ACS Biomater Sci Eng 2023; 9:2408-2425. [PMID: 37001010 PMCID: PMC10170482 DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.2c01518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/03/2023]
Abstract
It has become evident that physical stimuli of the cellular microenvironment transmit mechanical cues regulating key cellular functions, such as proliferation, migration, and malignant transformation. Accumulating evidence suggests that tumor cells face variable mechanical stimuli that may induce metabolic rewiring of tumor cells. However, the knowledge of how tumor cells adapt metabolism to external mechanical cues is still limited. We therefore designed soft 3D collagen scaffolds mimicking a pathological mechanical environment to decipher how liver tumor cells would adapt their metabolic activity to physical stimuli of the cellular microenvironment. Here, we report that the soft 3D microenvironment upregulates the glycolysis of HepG2 and Alexander cells. Both cell lines adapt their mitochondrial activity and function under growth in the soft 3D microenvironment. Cells grown in the soft 3D microenvironment exhibit marked mitochondrial depolarization, downregulation of mitochondrially encoded cytochrome c oxidase I, and slow proliferation rate in comparison with stiff monolayer cultures. Our data reveal the coupling of liver tumor glycolysis to mechanical cues. It is proposed here that soft 3D collagen scaffolds can serve as a useful model for future studies of mechanically regulated cellular functions of various liver (potentially other tissues as well) tumor cells.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adam Frtús
- Department of Optical and Biophysical Systems, Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague 18221, Czech Republic
| | - Barbora Smolková
- Department of Optical and Biophysical Systems, Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague 18221, Czech Republic
| | - Mariia Uzhytchak
- Department of Optical and Biophysical Systems, Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague 18221, Czech Republic
| | - Mariia Lunova
- Department of Optical and Biophysical Systems, Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague 18221, Czech Republic
- Institute for Clinical & Experimental Medicine (IKEM), Prague 14021, Czech Republic
| | - Milan Jirsa
- Institute for Clinical & Experimental Medicine (IKEM), Prague 14021, Czech Republic
| | - Yuriy Petrenko
- Department of Neuroregeneration, Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague 14220, Czech Republic
| | - Alexandr Dejneka
- Department of Optical and Biophysical Systems, Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague 18221, Czech Republic
| | - Oleg Lunov
- Department of Optical and Biophysical Systems, Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague 18221, Czech Republic
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Zahmatkesh E, Othman A, Braun B, Aspera R, Ruoß M, Piryaei A, Vosough M, Nüssler A. In vitro modeling of liver fibrosis in 3D microtissues using scalable micropatterning system. Arch Toxicol 2022; 96:1799-1813. [PMID: 35366062 DOI: 10.1007/s00204-022-03265-7] [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: 12/09/2021] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Liver fibrosis is the late consequence of chronic liver inflammation which could eventually lead to cirrhosis, and liver failure. Among various etiological factors, activated hepatic stellate cells (aHSCs) are the major players in liver fibrosis. To date, various in vitro liver fibrosis models have been introduced to address biological and medical questions. Availability of traditional in vitro models could not fully recapitulate complicated pathology of liver fibrosis. The purpose of this study was to develop a simple and robust model to investigate the role of aHSCs on the progression of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in hepatocytes during liver fibrogenesis. Therefore, we applied a micropatterning approach to generate 3D co-culture microtissues consisted of HepaRG and human umbilical cord endothelial cells (HUVEC) which co-cultured with inactivated LX-2 cells or activated LX-2 cells, respectively, as normal or fibrotic liver models in vitro. The result indicated that the activated LX-2 cells could induce EMT in HepaRG cells through activation of TGF-β/SMAD signaling pathway. Besides, in the fibrotic microtissue, physiologic function of HepaRG cells attenuated compared to the control group, e.g., metabolic activity and albumin secretion. Moreover, our results showed that after treatment with Galunisertib, the fibrogenic properties decreased, in the term of gene and protein expression. In conclusion, it is proposed that aHSCs could lead to EMT in hepatocytes during liver fibrogenesis. Furthermore, the scalable micropatterning approach could provide enough required liver microtissues to prosper our understanding of the mechanisms involved in the progression of liver fibrosis as well as high throughput (HT) drug screening.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ensieh Zahmatkesh
- Department of Traumatology, Siegfried Weller Institute, University of Tübingen, BG Tübingen, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.,Department of Regenerative Medicine, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, 1665659911, Iran
| | - Amnah Othman
- Department of Traumatology, Siegfried Weller Institute, University of Tübingen, BG Tübingen, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Bianca Braun
- Department of Traumatology, Siegfried Weller Institute, University of Tübingen, BG Tübingen, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Romina Aspera
- Department of Traumatology, Siegfried Weller Institute, University of Tübingen, BG Tübingen, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Marc Ruoß
- Department of Traumatology, Siegfried Weller Institute, University of Tübingen, BG Tübingen, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Abbas Piryaei
- Department of Biology and Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.,Department of Tissue Engineering and Applied Cell Sciences, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Massoud Vosough
- Department of Regenerative Medicine, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, 1665659911, Iran
| | - Andreas Nüssler
- Department of Traumatology, Siegfried Weller Institute, University of Tübingen, BG Tübingen, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
De Chiara F, Ferret-Miñana A, Ramón-Azcón J. The Synergy between Organ-on-a-Chip and Artificial Intelligence for the Study of NAFLD: From Basic Science to Clinical Research. Biomedicines 2021; 9:248. [PMID: 33801289 PMCID: PMC7999375 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines9030248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Revised: 02/20/2021] [Accepted: 02/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Non-alcoholic fatty liver affects about 25% of global adult population. On the long-term, it is associated with extra-hepatic compliances, multiorgan failure, and death. Various invasive and non-invasive methods are employed for its diagnosis such as liver biopsies, CT scan, MRI, and numerous scoring systems. However, the lack of accuracy and reproducibility represents one of the biggest limitations of evaluating the effectiveness of drug candidates in clinical trials. Organ-on-chips (OOC) are emerging as a cost-effective tool to reproduce in vitro the main NAFLD's pathogenic features for drug screening purposes. Those platforms have reached a high degree of complexity that generate an unprecedented amount of both structured and unstructured data that outpaced our capacity to analyze the results. The addition of artificial intelligence (AI) layer for data analysis and interpretation enables those platforms to reach their full potential. Furthermore, the use of them do not require any ethic and legal regulation. In this review, we discuss the synergy between OOC and AI as one of the most promising ways to unveil potential therapeutic targets as well as the complex mechanism(s) underlying NAFLD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Francesco De Chiara
- Biosensors for Bioengineering Group, Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Baldiri I Reixac 10–12, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; (A.F.-M.); (J.R.-A.)
| | - Ainhoa Ferret-Miñana
- Biosensors for Bioengineering Group, Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Baldiri I Reixac 10–12, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; (A.F.-M.); (J.R.-A.)
| | - Javier Ramón-Azcón
- Biosensors for Bioengineering Group, Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Baldiri I Reixac 10–12, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; (A.F.-M.); (J.R.-A.)
- ICREA-Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Frtús A, Smolková B, Uzhytchak M, Lunova M, Jirsa M, Hof M, Jurkiewicz P, Lozinsky VI, Wolfová L, Petrenko Y, Kubinová Š, Dejneka A, Lunov O. Hepatic Tumor Cell Morphology Plasticity under Physical Constraints in 3D Cultures Driven by YAP-mTOR Axis. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2020; 13:ph13120430. [PMID: 33260691 PMCID: PMC7759829 DOI: 10.3390/ph13120430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2020] [Revised: 11/23/2020] [Accepted: 11/26/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent studies undoubtedly show that the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and the Hippo–Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP) pathways are important mediators of mechanical cues. The crosstalk between these pathways as well as de-regulation of their signaling has been implicated in multiple tumor types, including liver tumors. Additionally, physical cues from 3D microenvironments have been identified to alter gene expression and differentiation of different cell lineages. However, it remains incompletely understood how physical constraints originated in 3D cultures affect cell plasticity and what the key mediators are of such process. In this work, we use collagen scaffolds as a model of a soft 3D microenvironment to alter cellular size and study the mechanotransduction that regulates that process. We show that the YAP-mTOR axis is a downstream effector of 3D cellular culture-driven mechanotransduction. Indeed, we found that cell mechanics, dictated by the physical constraints of 3D collagen scaffolds, profoundly affect cellular proliferation in a YAP–mTOR-mediated manner. Functionally, the YAP–mTOR connection is key to mediate cell plasticity in hepatic tumor cell lines. These findings expand the role of YAP–mTOR-driven mechanotransduction to the control hepatic tumor cellular responses under physical constraints in 3D cultures. We suggest a tentative mechanism, which coordinates signaling rewiring with cytoplasmic restructuring during cell growth in 3D microenvironments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adam Frtús
- Department of Optical and Biophysical Systems, Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 18221 Prague, Czech Republic; (A.F.); (B.S.); (M.U.); (M.L.); (Š.K.)
| | - Barbora Smolková
- Department of Optical and Biophysical Systems, Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 18221 Prague, Czech Republic; (A.F.); (B.S.); (M.U.); (M.L.); (Š.K.)
| | - Mariia Uzhytchak
- Department of Optical and Biophysical Systems, Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 18221 Prague, Czech Republic; (A.F.); (B.S.); (M.U.); (M.L.); (Š.K.)
| | - Mariia Lunova
- Department of Optical and Biophysical Systems, Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 18221 Prague, Czech Republic; (A.F.); (B.S.); (M.U.); (M.L.); (Š.K.)
- Institute for Clinical & Experimental Medicine (IKEM), 14021 Prague, Czech Republic;
| | - Milan Jirsa
- Institute for Clinical & Experimental Medicine (IKEM), 14021 Prague, Czech Republic;
| | - Martin Hof
- J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 18223 Prague, Czech Republic; (M.H.); (P.J.)
| | - Piotr Jurkiewicz
- J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 18223 Prague, Czech Republic; (M.H.); (P.J.)
| | - Vladimir I. Lozinsky
- A.N. Nesmeyanov Institute of Organoelement Compounds, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vavilov Street, 28, 119991 Moscow, Russia;
| | - Lucie Wolfová
- Department of Biomaterials and Biophysical Methods, Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 14220 Prague, Czech Republic; (L.W.); (Y.P.)
- Department of Tissue Engineering, Contipro a.s., 56102 Dolni Dobrouc, Czech Republic
| | - Yuriy Petrenko
- Department of Biomaterials and Biophysical Methods, Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 14220 Prague, Czech Republic; (L.W.); (Y.P.)
| | - Šárka Kubinová
- Department of Optical and Biophysical Systems, Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 18221 Prague, Czech Republic; (A.F.); (B.S.); (M.U.); (M.L.); (Š.K.)
- Department of Biomaterials and Biophysical Methods, Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 14220 Prague, Czech Republic; (L.W.); (Y.P.)
| | - Alexandr Dejneka
- Department of Optical and Biophysical Systems, Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 18221 Prague, Czech Republic; (A.F.); (B.S.); (M.U.); (M.L.); (Š.K.)
- Correspondence: (A.D.); (O.L.); Tel.: +420-2660-52141 (A.D.); +420-2660-52131 (O.L.)
| | - Oleg Lunov
- Department of Optical and Biophysical Systems, Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 18221 Prague, Czech Republic; (A.F.); (B.S.); (M.U.); (M.L.); (Š.K.)
- Correspondence: (A.D.); (O.L.); Tel.: +420-2660-52141 (A.D.); +420-2660-52131 (O.L.)
| |
Collapse
|