scholarly journals Organ on Chip Technology to Model Cancer Growth and Metastasis

2022 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Giorgia Imparato ◽  
Francesco Urciuolo ◽  
Paolo Antonio Netti

Organ on chip (OOC) has emerged as a major technological breakthrough and distinct model system revolutionizing biomedical research and drug discovery by recapitulating the crucial structural and functional complexity of human organs in vitro. OOC are rapidly emerging as powerful tools for oncology research. Indeed, Cancer on chip (COC) can ideally reproduce certain key aspects of the tumor microenvironment (TME), such as biochemical gradients and niche factors, dynamic cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions, and complex tissue structures composed of tumor and stromal cells. Here, we review the state of the art in COC models with a focus on the microphysiological systems that host multicellular 3D tissue engineering models and can help elucidate the complex biology of TME and cancer growth and progression. Finally, some examples of microengineered tumor models integrated with multi-organ microdevices to study disease progression in different tissues will be presented.

2019 ◽  
Vol 140 ◽  
pp. 68-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Cochrane ◽  
Hugo J. Albers ◽  
Robert Passier ◽  
Christine L. Mummery ◽  
Albert van den Berg ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bartosz Kempisty ◽  
Rafał Walczak ◽  
Paweł Antosik ◽  
Patrycja Sniadek ◽  
Marta Rybska ◽  
...  

Since microfollicular environment and the size of the follicle are important markers influencing oocyte quality, the aim of this study is to present the spectral characterization of oocytes isolated from follicles of various sizes using lab-on-chip (LOC) technology and to demonstrate how follicle size may affect oocyte quality. Porcine oocytes (each,n=100) recovered from follicles of different sizes, for example, from large (>5 mm), medium (3–5 mm), and small (<3 mm), were analyzed after precedingin vitromaturation (IVM). The LOC analysis was performed using a silicon-glass sandwich with two glass optical fibers positioned “face-to-face.” Oocytes collected from follicles of different size classes revealed specific and distinguishable spectral characteristics. The absorbance spectra (microspectrometric specificity) for oocytes isolated from large, medium, and small follicles differ significantly (P<0.05) and the absorbance wavelengths were between 626 and 628 nm, between 618 and 620 nm, and less than 618 nm, respectively. The present study offers a parametric and objective method of porcine oocyte assessment. However, up to now this study has been used to evidence spectral markers associated with follicular size in pigs, only. Further investigations with functional-biological assays and comparing LOC analyses with fertilization and pregnancy success and the outcome of healthy offspring must be performed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 753-761 ◽  
Author(s):  
Warren Colomb ◽  
Matthew Osmond ◽  
Charles Durfee ◽  
Melissa D. Krebs ◽  
Susanta K. Sarkar

AbstractThe absence of quantitative in vitro cell–extracellular matrix models represents an important bottleneck for basic research and human health. Randomness of cellular distributions provides an opportunity for the development of a quantitative in vitro model. However, quantification of the randomness of random cell distributions is still lacking. In this paper, we have imaged cellular distributions in an alginate matrix using a multiview light sheet microscope and developed quantification metrics of randomness by modeling it as a Poisson process, a process that has constant probability of occurring in space or time. We imaged fluorescently labeled human mesenchymal stem cells embedded in an alginate matrix of thickness greater than 5 mm with $\sim\! {\rm 2}{\rm. 9} \pm {\rm 0}{\rm. 4}\,\mu {\rm m}$ axial resolution, the mean full width at half maximum of the axial intensity profiles of fluorescent particles. Simulated randomness agrees well with the experiments. Quantification of distributions and validation by simulations will enable quantitative study of cell–matrix interactions in tissue models.


2020 ◽  
Vol 85-86 ◽  
pp. 15-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.C. Ashworth ◽  
J.L. Thompson ◽  
J.R. James ◽  
C.E. Slater ◽  
S. Pijuan-Galitó ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Austin G. Gouldin ◽  
Jennifer L. Puetzer

AbstractIn connective tissues there is a clear link between increasing age and degeneration. It is believed advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) play a central role in this degeneration. AGEs are sugar induced non-enzymatic crosslinks which accumulate in collagen with age and diabetes, altering tissue mechanics and cellular function. Despite ample correlative evidence linking collagen glycation to degeneration, little is known how AGEs impact cell-matrix interactions, limiting therapeutic options. One reason for this limited understanding is AGEs are typically induced in vitro using high concentrations of ribose which decrease cell viability and make it impossible to investigate cell-matrix interactions. The objective of this study was to develop a system to trigger AGE accumulation while maintaining cell viability. Using cell-seeded high density collagen gels, we investigated the effect of two different systems for AGE induction, ribose at low concentrations (30, 100, and 200 mM) over 15 days of culture and riboflavin (0.25 mM and 0.75mM) induced with blue light for 40 seconds. We found ribose and riboflavin with blue light are capable of producing a wide range of AGE crosslinks which match and/or exceed reported human AGE levels for various tissues, ages, and diseases, without affecting cell viability and metabolism. Interestingly, a single 40 second treatment of riboflavin and blue light produced similar levels of AGEs as 3 days of 100 mM ribose treatment and matched aged mouse tendon AGE levels. This riboflavin treatment option is an exciting means to trigger AGE crosslinks on demand in vivo or in vitro without impacting cell metabolism or viability and holds great promise for further unraveling the mechanism of AGEs in age and diabetes related tissue degeneration.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 777-789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian F. Niemeyer ◽  
Peng Zhao ◽  
Rubin M. Tuder ◽  
Kambez H. Benam

Lung diseases impose a significant socioeconomic burden and are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Moreover, respiratory medicine, unlike several other therapeutic areas, faces a disappointingly low number of new approved therapies. This is partly due to lack of reliable in vitro or in vivo models that can reproduce organ-level complexity and pathophysiological responses of human lung. Here, we examine new opportunities in application of recently emerged organ-on-chip technology to model human lung alveolus and small airway in preclinical drug development and biomarker discovery. We also discuss challenges that need to be addressed in coming years to further enhance the physiological and clinical relevance of these microsystems, enable their increased accessibility, and support their leap into personalized medicine.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioanna Zerva ◽  
Katerina Bakela ◽  
Irene Athanassakis

Abstract Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is commonly used in murine sepsis models, which are largely associated with immunosuppression and collapse of the immune system. After adapting the LPS treatment to the needs of locally bred BALB/c mice, the present study explored the protective role of Micrococcus luteus peptidoglycan (PG) pre-activated vaccine-on chip technology in endotoxemia. The established protocol consisted of five daily intraperitoneal injections of 0.2mg/g LPS, allowing longer survival, necessary for a therapeutic treatment application. A novel immunotherapy technology, the so-called vaccine-on-chip consists of a 3-dimentional laser micro-textured silicon (Si)-scaffold loaded with macrophages and activated in vitro with 1μg/ml PG, which has been previously shown to exert a mild immunostimulatory activity upon subcutaneous implantation. The LPS treatment significantly decreased CD4+ and CD8+ cells, while increasing CD11b+, Gr1+, CD25+, Foxp3+ and class II+ cells. These results were accompanied by increased arginase-1 activity in spleen cell lysates and C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), IL-6, TNF-a, IL-10 and IL-18 in the serum, while acquiring severe sepsis phenotype as defined by the murine sepsis scoring. The in vivo application of PG pre-activated implant significantly increased the percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ cells, while decreasing the percentage of Gr1+, CD25+, CD11b+, Foxp3+ cells and arginase-1 activity in the spleen of LPS-treated animals, as well as all serum markers tested, allowing survival and rescuing the severity of sepsis phenotype. In conclusion, these results reveal a novel immunotherapy technology based on PG pre-activated micro-texture Si-scaffolds in LPS endotoxemia, supporting thus its potential use in the treatment of septic patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-168
Author(s):  
Jiapeng Yang ◽  
Yu Zhang ◽  
Meng Qin ◽  
Wei Cheng ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
...  

Similar to natural tissues, hydrogels contain abundant water, so they are considered as promising biomaterials for studying the influence of the mechanical properties of extracellular matrices (ECM) on various cell functions. In recent years, the growing research on cellular mechanical response has revealed that many cell functions, including cell spreading, migration, tumorigenesis and differentiation, are related to the mechanical properties of ECM. Therefore, how cells sense and respond to the extracellular mechanical environment has gained considerable attention. In these studies, hydrogels are widely used as the in vitro model system. Hydrogels of tunable stiffness, viscoelasticity, degradability, plasticity, and dynamical properties have been engineered to reveal how cells respond to specific mechanical features. In this review, we summarize recent process in this research direction and specifically focus on the influence of the mechanical properties of the ECM on cell functions, how cells sense and respond to the extracellular mechanical environment, and approaches to adjusting the stiffness of hydrogels.


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