Descrizione del progetto
Un dispositivo microfluidico di ingegneria tissutale per lo sviluppo di farmaci
Le colture cellulari 3D per la ricerca in ambito medico e la medicina rigenerativa sono fondamentali per consentire di realizzare innovazioni mediche più precise e maggiormente etiche. I modelli tridimensionali di tessuto ingegnerizzato privi di substrati che imitano le caratteristiche funzionali dei tessuti nativi sostengono la ricerca sui biomarcatori, lo sviluppo di farmaci e gli studi di tossicologia, fornendo al contempo un’alternativa all’impiego degli animali durante le fasi di test e ricerca sui farmaci. Finanziato dal programma di azioni Marie Skłodowska-Curie, il progetto SMD-SPH sta sviluppando un sistema microfisiologico che comprende un modello di colture cellulari in 3D con una perfusione controllabile per un contatto continuativo con i fattori di crescita, con il duplice obiettivo di creare un tessuto nativo funzionale e di monitorare i parametri fisiologici chiave. Per la prima volta, le cellule staminali prelevate dal tessuto adiposo umano verranno usate allo scopo di costruire un tessuto adiposo che funga da sistema microfisiologico scalabile.
Obiettivo
In regenerative medicine, in vitro tissue engineering products (3D cell cultures) for in vivo therapy are critical for more accurate and more humane medical innovation. Tissue engineered scaffold-free 3D models that exhibit functional hallmarks of native tissues improve our search for biomarkers, drug testing/development and toxicology with more accurate models, while supporting the development of alternative methods to animal use in drug testing, as stated by the Directive (2010/63/EU) established the European Centre for the validation of alternative methods (ECVAM). To replace animal testing, it is important to develop microphysiological systems and ‘body-on-chip’ approaches that allow to account for organ-to-organ interactions in vitro, at a reasonable cost. Yet, most current bioreactors are expensive, designed for organ transplant (thus focused on a single organ) and poorly designed for miniaturization and scale-up. In SMD-SPH, we will develop a microphysiological systems with the following design requirement: a 3D cell culture model, with a continuous and controllable perfusion system for continuous contact with morphogens (growth factors) to obtain a functional native tissue and monitoring crucial parameters of cell physiology, compatible with scale-up manufacturing. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time in scientific literature that human adipose tissue-derived stem cells are used to build human white adipose tissue in a novel and scalable microphysiological system. This project meets the convergence of microfluidics and scaffold-free 3D culture models offering a reliable alternative for drug and toxicology assays, besides offer a scalable and reproductible system for future integration into a human-on-a-chip and high-troughput assays. Once an initial prototype is obtained, we will start dissemination to stakeholders and seek early adopters, cosmetic industries.
Campo scientifico
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesclassical mechanicsfluid mechanicsmicrofluidics
- medical and health sciencesmedical biotechnologytissue engineering
- medical and health sciencesmedical biotechnologycells technologiesstem cells
- engineering and technologyother engineering and technologiesmicrotechnologyorgan on a chip
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinetoxicology
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinatore
75015 Paris
Francia
L’organizzazione si è definita una PMI (piccola e media impresa) al momento della firma dell’accordo di sovvenzione.