Biomimetic tumor engineering to enhance drug discovery - BioengineeredTumor Abstract

Abstract

Development of novel, effective, and safe anti-tumor drugs is still a slow and cumbersome process, which is often attributed to weaknesses of current preclinical assays and low correlation of the preclinical in vitro and in vivo data with the results obtained in clinical trials. Consequently, there is a clear need for development of more reliable in vitro three dimensional (3D) tumor models, which will capture key features of the in vivo tumor cell microenvironment and provide drug testing results relevant for human patients. The aim of the project “Biomimetic tumor engineering to enhance drug discovery – BioengineeredTumor” funded by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia is to develop 2 novel, simple and robust 3D models for cultures of carcinoma and osteosarcoma cells by applying systematic and integrated methodology to comprehensively define the key model components. In specific, the aim is to use different human and animal cancer cell lines in conjunction with alginate-based biomaterials as artificial extracellular matrices imitating tumor environments and to cultivate the obtained constructs in perfusion bioreactors providing enhanced transport of nutrients, gases and biochemical signals to the cells as well as adequate levels of hydrodynamic shear stresses. Thus, the strategic goal is to establish an adaptable platform suited to the use by scientists without technical expertise for long-term in vitro studies of cancer cells for applications in anti-cancer drug discovery and validation, development of personalized medical treatments, and cancer research.