High-throughput analysis of cell-cell crosstalk in ad hoc designed microfluidic chips for oncoimmunology applications

Kinetic Detection of Apoptosis Events Via Caspase 3/7 Activation in a Tumor-Immune Microenvironment on a Chip

The development of advanced biological models like microphysiological systems, able to rebuild the complexity of the physiological and/or pathological environments at a single-cell detail level in an in-vivo-like approach, is proving to be a promising tool to understand the mechanisms of interactions between different cell populations and main features of several diseases. In this frame, the tumor-immune microenvironment on a chip represents a powerful tool to profile key aspects of cancer progression, immune activation, and response to therapy in several immuno-oncology applications. In the present chapter, we provide a protocol to identify and characterize the time evolution of apoptosis by time-lapse fluorescence and confocal imaging in a 3D microfluidic coculture murine model including cancer and spleen cells.

Mapping the Potential of Microfluidics in Early Diagnosis and Personalized Treatment of Head and Neck Cancers

Head and neck cancers (HNCs) account for ~4% of all cancers in North America and encompass cancers affecting the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, sinuses, nasal cavity, and salivary glands. The anatomical complexity of the head and neck region, characterized by highly perfused and innervated structures, presents challenges in the early diagnosis and treatment of these cancers. The utilization of sub-microliter volumes and the unique phenomenon associated with microscale fluid dynamics have facilitated the development of microfluidic platforms for studying complex biological systems. The advent of on-chip microfluidics has significantly impacted the diagnosis and treatment strategies of HNC. Sensor-based microfluidics and point-of-care devices have improved the detection and monitoring of cancer biomarkers using biological specimens like saliva, urine, blood, and serum. Additionally, tumor-on-a-chip platforms have allowed the creation of patient-specific cancer models on a chip, enabling the development of personalized treatments through high-throughput screening of drugs. In this review, we first focus on how microfluidics enable the development of an enhanced, functional drug screening process for targeted treatment in HNCs. We then discuss current advances in microfluidic platforms for biomarker sensing and early detection, followed by on-chip modeling of HNC to evaluate treatment response. Finally, we address the practical challenges that hinder the clinical translation of these microfluidic advances.

Engineering complexity in human tissue models of cancer

Major progress in the understanding and treatment of cancer have tremendously improved our knowledge of this complex disease and improved the length and quality of patients' lives. Still, major challenges remain, in particular with respect to cancer metastasis which still escapes effective treatment and remains responsible for 90% of cancer related deaths. In recent years, the advances in cancer cell biology, oncology and tissue engineering converged into the engineered human tissue models of cancer that are increasingly recapitulating many aspects of cancer progression and response to drugs, in a patient-specific context. The complexity and biological fidelity of these models, as well as the specific questions they aim to investigate, vary in a very broad range. When selecting and designing these experimental models, the fundamental question is "how simple is complex enough" to accomplish a specific goal of cancer research. Here we review the state of the art in developing and using the human tissue models in cancer research and developmental drug screening. We describe the main classes of models providing different levels of biological fidelity and complexity, discuss their advantages and limitations, and propose a framework for designing an appropriate model for a given study. We close by outlining some of the current needs, opportunities and challenges in this rapidly evolving field.

Tackling Current Biomedical Challenges With Frontier Biofabrication and Organ-On-A-Chip Technologies

In the last decades, biomedical research has significantly boomed in the academia and industrial sectors, and it is expected to continue to grow at a rapid pace in the future. An in-depth analysis of such growth is not trivial, given the intrinsic multidisciplinary nature of biomedical research. Nevertheless, technological advances are among the main factors which have enabled such progress. In this review, we discuss the contribution of two state-of-the-art technologies-namely biofabrication and organ-on-a-chip-in a selection of biomedical research areas. We start by providing an overview of these technologies and their capacities in fabricating advanced in vitro tissue/organ models. We then analyze their impact on addressing a range of current biomedical challenges. Ultimately, we speculate about their future developments by integrating these technologies with other cutting-edge research fields such as artificial intelligence and big data analysis.

Oncoimmunology Meets Organs-on-Chip

Oncoimmunology represents a biomedical research discipline coined to study the roles of immune system in cancer progression with the aim of discovering novel strategies to arm it against the malignancy. Infiltration of immune cells within the tumor microenvironment is an early event that results in the establishment of a dynamic cross-talk. Here, immune cells sense antigenic cues to mount a specific anti-tumor response while cancer cells emanate inhibitory signals to dampen it. Animals models have led to giant steps in this research context, and several tools to investigate the effect of immune infiltration in the tumor microenvironment are currently available. However, the use of animals represents a challenge due to ethical issues and long duration of experiments. Organs-on-chip are innovative tools not only to study how cells derived from different organs interact with each other, but also to investigate on the crosstalk between immune cells and different types of cancer cells. In this review, we describe the state-of-the-art of microfluidics and the impact of OOC in the field of oncoimmunology underlining the importance of this system in the advancements on the complexity of tumor microenvironment.