Permeable Hydrogel Encapsulated Osteosarcoma-on-a-Chip for High-Throughput Multi-Drugs Screening

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Oncology
• Drug Discovery

Background:

• Pharmacological chemotherapy is crucial for osteosarcoma (OS) treatment.
• Optimizing drug combinations enhances efficacy and reduces side effects.
• A lack of efficient drug screening platforms hinders combination therapy development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel osteosarcoma-on-a-chip for high-throughput drug screening.
• To enable precise evaluation of single drugs and drug combinations.
• To address the critical gap in optimizing OS combination therapies.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of core-shell microcarriers (CSMs) encapsulating OS cells using microfluidic electrospray technology.
• Formation of OS cell spheroids within CSMs for 3D culture.
• Integration of CSMs into a microfluidic chip with concentration gradient generators and culture chambers.

Main Results:

• Uniform size and monodisperse distribution of CSMs achieved.
• Efficient formation of OS cell spheroids within CSMs.
• Demonstrated high-throughput screening capability for single drugs and combinations.

Conclusions:

• The developed osteosarcoma-on-a-chip platform facilitates high-throughput drug screening.
• This platform shows significant potential for clinical applications in optimizing OS treatment.
• It offers a robust tool for advancing therapeutic strategies in osteosarcoma research.