Abstract

Engineering Ex Vivo Models of Brain Cancer

Stephanie Seidlits, Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin

The Seidlits lab works to design matrix-mimetic biomaterials for engineering tissues of the central nervous system (CNS). We work with hyaluronic acid (HA), a major component of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in the CNS, as a base material to create ex vivo models of brain and tumor tissues. I will discuss our work modeling glioblastoma (GBM), the most lethal, yet common, cancer originating in the brain. We have developed HA-based culture platforms that provide a controlled experimental context in which to characterize how the ECM microenvironment facilitates GBM tumor aggression. These biomaterial-based cultures of patient-derived GBM cells can model several aspects of clinical tumors, including kinetics of acquired resistance to chemotherapies, metabolic changes, and vasculature-associated infiltration.