Development of an instrumented physiological microdevice for the modelisation of human brain vasculature in tumoral context
Résumé
Glioblastoma is the most frequent and aggressive brain tumor. Conventional treatments are not sufficiently effective, and the development of new drugs can be hampered due to the blood-brain-barrier (BBB). Current studies aim at reproducing in vitro the cerebral vascular microenvironment, in a healthy or tumoral context, but often neglect the impacts of extra-cellular matrix (ECM) or flow conditions (1). Nevertheless, the blood flow induces pressure and shear stress gradients, promoting angiogenesis, in healthy and tumoral environments (2). With the objective of overcoming these gaps, this study focuses on the design, mold printing and casting of a microchip that can host a hydrogel mimicking the ECM, within which a cell coculture could organize as a vascular network. This network will be perfused to reproduce the blood flow. The microchip design has been optimized to ease the demolding of the PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) chip from the 3D printed PLA mold (polylactic acid), and facilitate plugging to a microfluidic system. The hydrogel was cast in the 1 mm x 1,4 mm central space of these chips, around a previously introduced 200 µm diameter needle. The hydrogel was composed of fibrin and type-I microfibrillar collagen. Gelation was too fast, and temperature were set at 4°C during manipulations to slow it down. Further works on the collagen microfibers is undergoing to increase hydrogel mechanical, such as a reticulation at 200°C for 24 h under vacuum (50 mbar). The needles were withdrawn after gelation, leaving a channel in which endothelial cells (HBEC-5i) will be seeded to mimic a venule. A syringe flow controller was used to perfuse the venule, modelling the blood flow and its effect on the BBB. In addition to the endothelial cells, three other human cell types were used. Pericytes (HP) have a major angiogenic role, while astrocytes (HA) reinforce the newly created vasculature. Glioblastoma tumoral cells (U87-MG) may enable the angiogenesis but also disturb the microenvironment. 2D tests were conducted to determine the adequate medium and cell proportions for the coculture. All those steps get use closer to the development a 3D BBB capillary system, with human cells embedded in a collagen-based ECM cast into PDMS chips. The next steps will consist in system instrumentalization for the transport detection of drug candidates such as innovant nanocarriers. Applications for personalized medicine are to be expected with our system.
Origine | Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s) |
---|