15.02.2013 change 15.02.2013

Tiny cages to study cancer cells developed at Warsaw University of Technology

Miniature cages imitating the human body, which can be used to enclose and examine cancer cells are being developed at Warsaw University of Technology. Doctors will use them to check the effectiveness of cancer therapy and study stem cells.

Miniature devices built by a PhD student of the Faculty of Chemistry of Warsaw University of Technology resemble tiny cages. "We want to create a disposable device. They can be delivered to a biological lab, unpacked, used to hold biological material, culture cells and carry out tests on them" - told PAP the invention author Karina Kwapiszewska.

Her device, expertly called a microflow "Lab-on-chip" system, is filled with a network of channels and chambers. A tumour cell placed inside, obtained from the patient during a biopsy, will have conditions almost identical to those in a living organism.

How can a laboratory tool can simulate the human body? The space inside the cage is three-dimensional, so that the cells will be able to interact. "In traditional in vitro cultures, cells are flattened on the vessel bottom. This model is quite different from what happens in the human body, where cells come into contact, enter many chemical and physical interactions. All this is not recreated in traditional cultures" - explained Kwapiszewska.

In 3D cultures, possible with cages designed by Karina Kwapiszewska, cells are "stuck together" and maintain a large number of connections. The cage also contains a natural extracellular matrix produced by the cells themselves, in which chemical interactions occur.

"Secondly, it is a microfluidic environment. This means that the exchange takes place between the cultured cells by diffusion, and it is analogous to the human body" - explained the researcher.

The most important use of "cages" will be the possibility to observe tumour cells by a doctor or biologist. With such a device, a doctor can check how cancer cells respond to a given drug and see if the treatment will be effective. It will be easier to select a treatment for a particular patient.

"The device is versatile, it can also be used to test other types of cells, such as stem cells, cells for toxicity test" - assured Kwapiszewska.

Cages are built with popular material, often used in the manufacture of such systems. "It is transparent, which facilitates observation, and relatively cheap. It is biocompatible, which means that it is easy for biological material to grow" - described the researcher.

Patent application for the invention has already been filed. "In the future, if all goes well, scientists and laboratories will be able to buy the device. The demand for this type of solutions is very strong. Several research teams make 3D microfluidic chips, but such finished devices are not commercially available" - she said.

The device may become an alternative to currently used techniques; it can be used in any laboratory equipped with a common analytical tool called "spectrofluorimetric multiwell plate reader".

The project gained recognition in the prestigious Cheminas Young Researcher Award competition at the scientific conference in Japan. Karina Kwapiszewska also one of three young scientists honoured in the finals of the competition Elsevier-Perspectives Research Excellence Awards.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland, Ewelina Krajczyńska

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