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A heterotypic tumor-on-a-chip platform for user-friendly combinatorial chemotherapeutic testing
Xufang Liu1, Meilin Sun1, Fen Zhang2
1Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Pathology, School of Basic Medical Science, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410013, China.
Analytica Chimica Acta
|November 3, 2024
Summary
A new, easy-to-use 3D tumor-on-a-chip platform enables mass production of heterotypic tumors for biomimetic drug screening. This system simplifies combinatorial chemotherapy analysis, advancing cancer research and drug discovery.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Oncology
- Drug Discovery
Background:
- Three-dimensional (3D) tumor microdevices are crucial for predicting antitumor responses and high-throughput drug screening.
- Existing methods for 3D tumor model creation and analysis have limitations in ease of use, throughput, and biomimicry.
- Developing accessible 3D tumor models for consumer-grade applications remains an active area of research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a facilely operated tumor-on-a-chip platform for mass production of heterotypic 3D tumors.
- To enable diverse investigations of combinatorial chemotherapy screening using these 3D tumor models.
- To demonstrate the platform's applicability for user-friendly, large-scale analysis of cancer therapies.
Main Methods:
- Utilized simple-to-fabricate micropatterned chips for high geometric controllability and repeatability in heterotypic tumor generation.
- Reproduced key solid tumor characteristics, including phenotypic gradients and heterogeneous cellular compositions.
- Employed user-friendly pipetting manipulation for tumor production and chemotherapy analysis, ensuring ease of operation.
Main Results:
- Achieved massive production of heterotypic 3D tumors with high geometric controllability (19.6 μm size difference) and operational repeatability (n=10).
- Successfully reproduced complex tumor characteristics like phenotypic gradients and multi-cell compositions, enhancing biomimicry compared to homotypic tumors.
- Demonstrated user-friendly analytical evaluation of individual and combinatorial drug therapies with high applicability for on-chip and off-chip analysis.
Conclusions:
- Established a biomimetic and user-friendly 3D tumor platform for large-scale combinatorial chemotherapy screening.
- The platform offers significant potential for oncology, drug discovery, and tissue engineering applications.
- This advancement is expected to contribute to the development of accessible and generalizable tumor-on-a-chip systems for cancer therapy exploration.
