STEMCELLSTRESSCHIP · Microfluidic device for high-throughput three-dimensional culture, mechanical stimulation and drug screening of stem cells
7РП — „Хора“ (Действия „Мария Кюри“)
- Период
- 2010-04-01 → 2012-03-31
- Финансиране от ЕС
- 173 565 €
- Участници
- 1
- Схема
- MC-IEF
Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.
Накратко на български
Микрофлуидни чипове се използват за отглеждане на стволови клетки в 3D среда и тестване на лекарства върху тях, например върху мускулни клетки. Това помага за по-доброто разбиране на процесите между клетките и начина, по който те реагират на различни химически и механични стимули.
Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.
Резултати накратко
Microfluidic device for high-throughput three-dimensional culture, mechanical stimulation and drug screening of stem cells
This fellowship was set out with the intention of developing a microfluidic platform to enable three-dimensional culture of stem cells within a high-throughput format. To achieve this, we employed our expertise in microfabrication and microfluidics and established novel protocols to fabricate networks of microfluidic channels on flexible substrates suitable for mechanical stimulation. Moreover, we also created advanced microfluidic devices compatible with automated cell culture and imaging that enabled highly parallel experiments with minimal quantities of reagents and cells, and allowed the dynamic study of intercellular processes in deep detail. We used the developed platforms to culture cells in controlled two- and three-dimensional microenvironments, and also to evaluate the behaviour of different cell types, including adult muscle stem cells, when varying the adhesion properties of the culture substrate as well as the composition of the culture medium. We observed a clear response in cell morphology to the confinement in the microchannel environment, both in the case of culturing cells within an extracellular matrix as well as when seeding cells on the surface of the channels. To study this effect in detail, we created a microdevice with an array of channels of varying widths. We included active control modules that allowed us to perfuse cells regularly without shear flow, enabling the study of cell behaviour on low adhesion substrates. Finally, active flow control also allowed us to multiplex culture conditions and vary those combinatorially with factors such as cell type, extracellular matrix, drug concentration or adhesion ligands. Stem cells are cells that have the ability to self-renew as well as to differentiate into other specific cell types. They have become one of the most active fields of biological research due to their importance in cancer, tissue homeostasis and regeneration, and their potential applications in tissue engineering and treatment of degenerative diseases. The technologies developed in this work will prove of great interest to the large biological community due to the impact they can have in the costly and difficult task of controlling the microenvironment of the stem cell. Therefore, the research carried out within this fellowship will be of direct interest not only to the scientific community, but also to the medical one and to society at large.
Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз
Цел на проекта
Adult stem cells are the engines that drive tissue dynamics. Tissue homeostasis and regeneration are critically dependent on their self-renewal capability and differentiation to replenish cells of a tissue throughout life. Due to these unique properties, adult stem cells hold enormous potential for the treatment of various diseases. Moreover, recent findings suggest that cells with stem cell-like properties maintain some cancers including acute leukaemia, brain and breast cancers. Adult stem cell regulation is still poorly understood and significant hurdles need to be overcome before stem cells can be used efficiently and safely in the clinic. One of the greatest challenges is controlling stem cell behaviour outside of their natural microenvironment, as this would allow expanding them to sufficient numbers or differentiating them in a well-defined manner. Cell fate is determined by biochemical and physico-chemical factors, the physical environment around them (extracellular matrix) and mechanical stimuli. Recreating cell microenvironments artificially is a crucial aspect of stem cell research which has been tackled with considerable success using synthetic hydrogels. We propose the development of a microfluidic platform for simultaneous culture inside hydrogels, mechanical stimulation and drug screening of stem cells. Combining microfluidic technology with the in situ synthesis of hydrogels, we plan to create an efficient miniaturized cell microenvironment suitable for mechanical stimulation. The miniaturization of the culture will reduce the number of cells needed per experiment, a critical issue in stem cell research. The inclusion of microfluidic control modules will provide advanced fluidic handling and automation and will enable high-throughput and drug screening studies. We will use this platform study myofiber formation from muscle progenitor cells and induced pluripotent stem cells towards the development of therapies for muscle dystrophy.
Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).
Участници
- ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE · LausanneКоординаторШвейцария
Връзки
Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз