Project description
Microvasculature scaffolds will help 3D tissue models survive and thrive
Despite the extreme complexity involved in inducing cells to form 3D tissues and functional mini-organs in vitro, science has accomplished this incredible task. However, for model systems to grow in volume and eventually simulate a realistic organ, vascularisation supporting cells with oxygen and nutrients must be simpler and more effective. Many studies have focused on promoting ‘natural’ vascularisation with varying degrees of success. The EU-funded project Design2Flow is pursuing a novel idea: sacrificial scaffolds resembling native microvasculature that can be utilised with multi-well plates for passive perfusion of the tissue without the need for expensive equipment or highly specialised personnel. Further, the system can be adapted to perfusion pump set-ups for active and controllable perfusion mimicking physiological blood flow even better. The technology promises to accelerate drug development while supporting the transition away from animal testing.
Objective
Functional 3D tissue models could replace animal experiments and significantly reduce the cost of over 100 million € that pharmaceutical companies spend on failed drug development every year. The main bottleneck in the in vitro creation of 3D tissues is the need for perfusable vascularization in tissues bigger than 1 mm. So far, no generally applicable product exists
for that purpose. This hampers advances in drug development as well as in research.
Design2Flow will develop products, which overcome this limitation and enable the individualized on-demand creation of perfusable and therefore larger and more complex tissues. This will fundamentally reform research in life sciences by offering easy-to-use, customizable, perfusable 3D cell culture products of interest to the pharmaceutical industry and research labs.
To achieve this goal melt electrowriting will be utilized to fabricate sacrificial scaffolds, which resemble the native microvasculature. The fabricated scaffolds will be combined with insert clips as easy-to-use designs for multiwell plates, which will allow a passive perfusion of the construct to keep the tissue alive without the need for a special pump – a beginner friendly way to
start advanced 3D cell culture with basic laboratory equipment, without the need for expensive devices or experienced personal.
For customers working with perfusion pumps, the proposed solution will be adapted to perfusion chambers for an active and controllable perfusion of the tissue by flow reactors, mimicking the in vivo blood flow even more accurately. This will provide an advanced and customizable way to create tissues as accurate as possible for physiological cultivation in bioreactors.
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept GrantHost institution
97080 Wurzburg
Germany