Modeling the Blood-Brain Barrier in a 3D triple co-culture microfluidic system.

The need for a blood-brain barrier (BBB) model that accurately mimics the physiological characteristics of the in-vivo situation is well-recognized by researchers in academia and industry. However, there is currently no in-vitro model allowing studies of neuronal growth and/or function influenced by factors from the blood that cross through the BBB. Therefore, we established a 3D triple co-culture microfluidic system using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) together with primary rat astrocytes and neurons. Immunostaining confirmed the successful triple co-culture system consisting of an intact BBB with tight intercellular junctions in the endothelial monolayer. The BBB selective permeability was determined by a fluorescent-based assay using dextrans of different molecular weights. Finally, neuron functionality was demonstrated by calcium imaging.

Using microfluidics to investigate tumor cell extravasation and T-cell immunotherapies.

Understanding the mechanism of tumor cell extravasation, cell migration and the role of the immunosystem is crucial in creating targeted and patient-specific cancer therapies. We created an in-vitro microfluidic cell extravasation assay, incorporating a microvascular network and demonstrated its use to study cancer cells extravasation. Separately, we developed an assay for screening T-cell migration and cytotoxicity as a means to evaluate the efficiency of adoptive immunotherapies against cancer. Similar devices using a similar platform can be used to recreate a tumor liver microenvironment, taking in consideration the hypoxic and inflammatory conditions in the liver. These platforms show considerable potential as efficient pre-clinical models for testing the efficiency of cancer drugs and engineered T-cell functionality for personalized medicine.