Search

In this study, the possibility of using four different GO derivatives as nanocarriers for meso-tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) (GO_TPP) was evaluated. The research was carried out with the innovative, well-reproducing tumor environment of 2D and 3D MCF-7/HMF co-cultures in a single microfluidic Cell-on-a-Chip system. A significant accumulation of TPP in cancer cells for the tested GO_TPP nanoconjugates was achieved. This resulted in a decrease of MCF-7/HMF cell viability cultured as 2D and 3D models. Our research confirmed that the driving force of a decrease of MCF-7/HMF cell viability after PDT procedures with GO_TPP was associated with the efficient generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). It was proved that the tested conjugates did not show any cytotoxic effect on MCF-7/HMF co-cultures without irradiation. Therefore, the herein presented nanoconjugates can be treated as non-toxic materials for humans that after activation can be applied as highly efficient probes for PDT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a culture of A549 and MRC-5 spheroids in a microfluidic system. The aim of our work was to develop a good lung cancer model for the evaluation of drug cytotoxicity. Our research was focused on determining the progress of cell aggregation depending on such factors as the depth of culture microwells in the microdevices, a different flow rate of the introduced cell suspensions, and the addition of collagen to cell suspensions. We showed that these factors had a significant influence on spheroid formation. It was found that both MRC-5 and A549 cells exhibited higher aggregation in 500 µm microwells. We also noticed that collagen needs to be added to A549 cells to form the spheroids. Optimizing the mentioned parameters allowed us to form 3D lung tissue models in the microfluidic system during the 10-day culture. This study indicates how important an appropriate selection of the specified parameters is (e.g., geometry of the microwells in the microsystem) to obtain the spheroids characterized by high viability in the microfluidic system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we present cytotoxicity tests performed in a microanalytical hybrid system. The microchambers of cell culture were integrated with a concentration gradient generator (CGG), which created five different concentrations of evaluated agent in a single step. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is one of the most important chemotherapeutic agents for cancer treatment, therefore it was tested in the microsystem. Independent tests of the cytotoxic effect of 5-FU were performed in this microsystem on different cell lines (human lung carcinoma cells – A549 and human colon carcinoma cells – HT-29). We also present the dependence of cell viability at different times of incubation with 5-FU. We proved that 5-FU has a stronger inhibition effect on A549 than on HT-29 cells. Moreover, the results obtained in the microfluidic system were compared with that of a macroscale. It can be concluded that the conditions of cultivation can affect the level of cytotoxicity of drugs, and the microsystem is a good example that could be used in this field of research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Novel microfluidic tool for simultaneous 2D - monolayer and 3D – spheroids cell culture. • Characterization of high pure (chemically and microbiologically) graphene oxide. • Graphene oxide cytotoxicity under microfluidic conditions. • Higher affinity of graphene oxide flakes to cancer cells grow in spheroid structure than in monolayer structure. Microfluidic Lab-on-a-Chip systems have gained a lot of interest in cellular research. Currently, two- (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) cancer cell cultures are carried out under microfluidic conditions as new culture models. Mostly, they are used for the evaluation of cancer metastasis and effectiveness of anticancer therapy. Herein, we present a novel microfluidic tool for cancer cell cultures as 2D monolayer and 3D - spheroids simultaneously. The designed device was successfully used to create 4-day cultures of liver (HepG2), breast (MCF-7) and colon (HT-29) cancer cells. Biological properties of chemically and microbiologically pure graphene oxide (GO) were studied on the obtained cancer cell models as a new application of the developed microsystem. We showed that the presented microsystem is an ideal tool for studying the impact of carbon slurries on cell cultures carried out under microfluidic conditions. Moreover, our research showed that GO effect varies depending on its concentration, time after its treatment, origin of cells and the cell model. 2D monolayer cell models was more resistant to GO than 3D spheroids, what can relate with the microsystem geometry. Moreover, we showed that slight cytotoxic effect of GO (cell viability ∼70%) was observed only in 3D liver and breast cancer models. In our best knowledge, this is the first presentation of GO cytotoxicity under environmental conditions which much more reproduce in vivo than standard cell cultures (macroscale). Therefore, the results presented by us can show the real effect of graphene oxide on liver, breast and colon cancer tissue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]