scholarly journals Organ-on-a-Chip systems for new drugs development

ADMET & DMPK ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-141
Author(s):  
Ronny Vargas ◽  
Laura Medina ◽  
Andrea Egurbide

Research on alternatives to the use of animal models and cell cultures has led to the creation of organ-on-a-chip systems, in which organs and their physiological reactions to the presence of external stimuli are simulated. These systems could even replace the use of human beings as subjects for the study of drugs in clinical phases and have an impact on personalized therapies. Organ-on-a-chip technology present higher potential than traditional cell cultures for an appropriate prediction of functional impairments, appearance of adverse effects, the pharmacokinetic and toxicological profile and the efficacy of a drug. This potential is given by the possibility of placing different cell lines in a three-dimensional-arranged polymer piece and simulating and controlling specific conditions. Thus, the normal functioning of an organ, tissue, barrier, or physiological phenomenon can be simulated, as well as the interrelation between different systems. Furthermore, this alternative allows the study of physiological and pathophysiological processes. Its design combines different disciplines such as materials engineering, cell cultures, microfluidics and physiology, among others. This work presents the main considerations of OoC systems, the materials, methods and cell lines used for their design, and the conditions required for their proper functioning. Examples of applications and main challenges for the development of more robust systems are shown. This non-systematic review is intended to be a reference framework that facilitates research focused on the development of new OoC systems, as well as their use as alternatives in pharmacological, pharmacokinetic and toxicological studies.

The Analyst ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 141 (2) ◽  
pp. 620-629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margarita Smolina ◽  
Erik Goormaghtigh

Infrared imaging was applied to investigate a reconstituted basement membrane, known as Matrigel, in three-dimensional cell cultures.


Chemistry ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 849-899
Author(s):  
Mickaël Claudel ◽  
Justine V. Schwarte ◽  
Katharina M. Fromm

Traditional organic antimicrobials mainly act on specific biochemical processes such as replication, transcription and translation. However, the emergence and wide spread of microbial resistance is a growing threat for human beings. Therefore, it is highly necessary to design strategies for the development of new drugs in order to target multiple cellular processes that should improve their efficiency against several microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses or fungi. The present review is focused on recent advances and findings of new antimicrobial strategies based on metal complexes. Recent studies indicate that some metal ions cause different types of damages to microbial cells as a result of membrane degradation, protein dysfunction and oxidative stress. These unique modes of action, combined with the wide range of three-dimensional geometries that metal complexes can adopt, make them suitable for the development of new antimicrobial drugs.


2021 ◽  
pp. 175815592110308
Author(s):  
Ashley L. Ball ◽  
Ramon Lavado

Cell-based models in avian species have historically focused on virology due to the demands of animal agriculture and vaccine production industries. Recent years have witnessed a gradual rise in the use of these models ( in ovo, cell lines, primary cell cultures, organ slices, and organ-on-a-chip) in ecotoxicological studies as scientists and governments begin the shift to new approach methodologies, a shift validated by the recent memo by the Environmental Protection Agency announcing the end of mammalian testing in the next two decades. This rise has been hindered by the limited standards available for avian species and the unknowns surrounding cell-based assay applicability in extrapolation to in vivo. Toxicologists have incorporated these models in many different studies, including maternal deposition, mechanistic, metabolic, and non-target analysis methods, demonstrating the broad utility of cell-based assays. In ovo methods are ideal for reproductive and early life stage development studies, primary cell cultures for metabolic analysis, cell lines for long term studies requiring culture, organ slices for metabolic research, and organ-on-a-chip models for predictive analysis. These models all have their limitations that researchers need to consider when choosing which is most appropriate for the intended research, however. The current indications are that future avian cell-based model testing would benefit from expanding the species diversity available in cell lines and increasing metabolic conservation in full replacement methods. In ovo and primary cell culture methods should also be examined to increase efficiency and further reduce animal usage. This review examines the use, limitations, and published applications of these models in an ecotoxicological context to understand the current state of avian cell-based models to explain what future directions should be taken and how best to apply the methods available to current problems that avian researchers are approaching.


Author(s):  
R. I. Johnsson-Hegyeli ◽  
A. F. Hegyeli ◽  
D. K. Landstrom ◽  
W. C. Lane

Last year we reported on the use of reflected light interference microscopy (RLIM) for the direct color photography of the surfaces of living normal and malignant cell cultures without the use of replicas, fixatives, or stains. The surface topography of living cells was found to follow underlying cellular structures such as nuceloli, nuclear membranes, and cytoplasmic organelles, making possible the study of their three-dimensional relationships in time. The technique makes possible the direct examination of cells grown on opaque as well as transparent surfaces. The successful in situ electron microprobe analysis of the elemental composition and distribution within single tissue culture cells was also reported.This paper deals with the parallel and combined use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the two previous techniques in a study of living and fixed cancer cells. All three studies can be carried out consecutively on the same experimental specimens without disturbing the cells or their structural relationships to each other and the surface on which they are grown. KB carcinoma cells were grown on glass coverslips in closed Leighto tubes as previously described. The cultures were photographed alive by means of RLIM, then fixed with a fixative modified from Sabatini, et al (1963).


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 1438-1453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafat M. Mohareb ◽  
Amr S. Abouzied ◽  
Nermeen S. Abbas

Background: Dimedone and thiazole moieties are privileged scaffolds (acting as primary pharmacophores) in many compounds that are useful to treat several diseases, mainly tropical infectious diseases. Thiazole derivatives are a very important class of compounds due to their wide range of pharmaceutical and therapeutic activities. On the other hand, dimedone is used to synthesize many therapeutically active compounds. Therefore, the combination of both moieties through a single molecule to produce heterocyclic compounds will produce excellent anticancer agents. Objective: The present work reports the synthesis of 47 new substances belonging to two classes of compounds: Dimedone and thiazoles, with the purpose of developing new drugs that present high specificity for tumor cells and low toxicity to the organism. To achieve this goal, our strategy was to synthesize a series of 4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[d]-thiazol-2-yl derivatives using the reaction of the 2-bromodimedone with cyanothioacetamide. Methods: The reaction of 2-bromodimedone with cyanothioacetamide gave the 4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[d]- thiazol-2-yl derivative 4. The reactivity of compound 4 towards some chemical reagents was observed to produce different heterocyclic derivatives. Results: A cytotoxic screening was performed to evaluate the performance of the new derivatives in six tumor cell lines. Thirteen compounds were shown to be promising toward the tumor cell lines which were further evaluated toward five tyrosine kinases. Conclusion: The results of antitumor screening showed that many of the tested compounds were of high inhibition towards the tested cell lines. Compounds 6c, 8c, 11b, 11d, 13b, 14b, 15c, 15g, 21b, 21c, 20d and 21d were the most potent compounds toward c-Met kinase and PC-3 cell line. The most promising compounds 6c, 8c, 11b, 11d, 13b, 14b, 15c, 15g, 20c, 20d, 21b, 21c and 21d were further investigated against tyrosine kinase (c-Kit, Flt-3, VEGFR-2, EGFR, and PDGFR). Compounds 6c, 11b, 11d, 14b, 15c, and 20d were selected to examine their Pim-1 kinase inhibition activity the results revealed that compounds 11b, 11d and 15c had high activities.


Open Medicine ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 249-253
Author(s):  
Marta Bochynska-Czyz ◽  
Patrycja Redkiewicz ◽  
Hanna Kozlowska ◽  
Joanna Matalinska ◽  
Marek Konop ◽  
...  

AbstractThree-dimensional (3D) cell cultures were created with the use of fur keratin associated proteins (F-KAPs) as scaffolds. The procedure of preparation F-KAP involves combinations of chemical activation and enzymatic digestion. The best result in porosity and heterogeneity of F-KAP surface was received during pepsin digestion. The F-KAP had a stable structure, no changes were observed after heat treatment, shaking and washing. The 0.15-0.5 mm fraction had positive effect for formation of 3D scaffolds and cell culturing. Living rat mesenchymal cells on the F-KAP with no abnormal morphology were observed by SEM during 32 days of cell culturing.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 2491
Author(s):  
Yujin Park ◽  
Kang Moo Huh ◽  
Sun-Woong Kang

The process of evaluating the efficacy and toxicity of drugs is important in the production of new drugs to treat diseases. Testing in humans is the most accurate method, but there are technical and ethical limitations. To overcome these limitations, various models have been developed in which responses to various external stimuli can be observed to help guide future trials. In particular, three-dimensional (3D) cell culture has a great advantage in simulating the physical and biological functions of tissues in the human body. This article reviews the biomaterials currently used to improve cellular functions in 3D culture and the contributions of 3D culture to cancer research, stem cell culture and drug and toxicity screening.


1988 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-37
Author(s):  
Margherita Ferro ◽  
Anna Maria Bassi ◽  
Giorgio Nanni

Two hepatoma cell cultures were examined as in vitro models to be used in genotoxicity and cytotoxicity tests without the addition of bioactivating enzymes. The MH1C1, and HTC hepatoma lines were used in this study to establish their sensitivity to a number of xenobiotics, namely, cyclophosphamide (CP), the classical positive control in bioactivation tests; benzaldehyde (BA), a short-chain aldehyde; and 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE), a major toxic end-product of the peroxidative degradation of cell membrane lipids. As a first approach, we compared the following cytotoxicity tests: release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and colony formation efficiency (CF). Colony-forming cells were exposed to the drugs according to different procedures, before or after the anchorage phase. The leakage of LDH into the medium following exposure of both cell lines to HNE, CP and BA for up to 24 hours was found not to be a good index of cytotoxicity. A better indicator of cytotoxicity was CF, as evaluated by exposure of the cells 24 hours after seeding. The effects were detectable at very low concentrations, corresponding to 10, 90 and 100μM for HNE, CP and BA, respectively. The impairment of CF efficiency was dose-dependent and time-dependent, and several differences between the two cell lines were observed.


Cytotherapy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. S145
Author(s):  
S. Kress ◽  
D. Egger ◽  
C. Kasper

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