Poster Presentations
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Towards a three-dimensional microfluidic in vitro model to assess efficacy & safety of immune-stimulatory antibody drugs
Ramona Nudischer, PhD Student, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH Zürich)/Roche
Immune-stimulatory therapies, designed to engage the adaptive immune system as part of the pharmacological mode of action, have gained increasing importance in drug development and offer a promising option for therapeutic intervention to treat, e.g., various types of cancers. This field of “Cancer Immunotherapy” (CIT) often includes engineered antibodies, which are highly specific for their targets typically residing on different cell types present at distant sites in the human body, where they activate the patient’s immune system. These highly dynamic organ-immune cell interactions cannot be recapitulated in simple single-cell-based in vitro systems. More complex in vitro models are required, which more reliably mimic the situation in the human body in that they allow for co-culturing of different tissue types and circulating immune cells under physiological conditions. The goal of this project is to establish a sophisticated in vitro microfluidic platform, which enables studying the interaction of organs and circulating immune cells for CIT approaches. The system will allow the inclusion of immune cells into the medium flow that can interact with different 3D organotypic spheroids to mimic organ–immune cell interaction within the body.
Micropatterned polymer scaffolds for guiding 3-dimensional cultivation of cells
Frank Weise, Scientific co-worker, Technische Universität Ilmenau
There are many sophisticated methods available for generating patterned surfaces typically only for planar substrates. More biomimetic environment for cell culture than 2D surfaces are patterned 3-dimensional scaffolds with native tissue morphology. However, the ability to structure microporous material to predetermined geometries, especially on curved surfaces as well as to guide cell adhesion to non-planar surface still remains a technical challenge.
To reach this goal a microthermoforming process is used for structuring [1]. This process is highly efficient and works for most thermoplastics polymers, including permeable polycarbonate membranes as well as biodegradable materials like microporous polylactic acid. Additionally, spatially control of cellular micro-organization was achieved by local modification of the surface of polymer foils during the microthermoforming process. For this purpose we used an elastomeric PDMS stamp. The silicone tools acted as a combined micro patterning and thermoforming tool. Using this process biomolecules suitable for the applied cell type were transfer on the surface of microstructured polymers. EA.hy926 and L929 cell lines cultivated on thermoformed surfaces showed guided adhesion and growth. Cell attachment and spreading were predominantly limited to the microthermoformed structures, in which 3D cell organization was observed.
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