Projects
Current projects
SMART-ToC Tumor-on-Chip (ToC) platform incorporating Sensing hydrogel MAtrices
SMART-ToC is conducted by a transdisciplinary team set to develop an advanced breast tumor-on-chip model as a tool to test novel anti-cancer therapies and enable personalized medicine.
4 years | 4 countries | 6 societal & industry partners & 4 research institutions (2 technical universities, 1 applied science university & 1 university medical centre)
Tumor tissues are highly heterogeneous and vary with disease progression. Heterogeneity, as reported for certain microenvironmental parameters (oxygen, pH, tissue stiffness), often correlates with poor treatment success. Yet, current in-vitro/in-vivo tumor models do not properly incorporate spatiotemporal variations and thus have limited translational value. Therefore, innovative approaches are needed for advanced modeling of the tumor microenvironment, that correlate spatiotemporal alterations to therapy responses, to ultimately understand interrelationships and facilitate cost-effective (immuno)therapy development. Such approaches will be a gamechanger towards in vitro pharmacokinetics studies and provide a trajectory towards personalized medicine, after model personalization using patient-derived materials.
SMART-ToC will develop an advanced breast tumor-on-chip model incorporating essential cellular, physical, and chemical elements that impact therapeutic response; validate this model for antibody-drug conjugates and immunotherapies; and conduct an innovation trajectory towards societal acceptance. The proposed breast tumor-on-chip comprises a 3D-multicellular culture of breast tumor, innate immune cells, cancer- associated fibroblasts, and a vasculature, in a tunable (animal-free) hydrogel matrix equipped with sensors to map in 3D important microenvironmental parameters (pH, oxygen and stiffness). The model will be applied to evaluate therapeutic efficacy for antibody- and virus-based immunotherapies, in comparison to healthy breast tissue for tolerability studies.
Working packages (WP)
About the partners
Outreach
Do you want to know more about the importance of tumor microenvironment and tumor on chip technologies? Check this interactive website: https://toc-tme-amber.netlify.app/.
Funding
This project with file number KICH1.ST04.22.015 of the research programme KIC - MISSION Emerging Key Enabling Technologies is financed by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).
4 years | 4 countries | 6 societal & industry partners & 4 research institutions (2 technical universities, 1 applied science university & 1 university medical centre)
Tumor tissues are highly heterogeneous and vary with disease progression. Heterogeneity, as reported for certain microenvironmental parameters (oxygen, pH, tissue stiffness), often correlates with poor treatment success. Yet, current in-vitro/in-vivo tumor models do not properly incorporate spatiotemporal variations and thus have limited translational value. Therefore, innovative approaches are needed for advanced modeling of the tumor microenvironment, that correlate spatiotemporal alterations to therapy responses, to ultimately understand interrelationships and facilitate cost-effective (immuno)therapy development. Such approaches will be a gamechanger towards in vitro pharmacokinetics studies and provide a trajectory towards personalized medicine, after model personalization using patient-derived materials.
SMART-ToC will develop an advanced breast tumor-on-chip model incorporating essential cellular, physical, and chemical elements that impact therapeutic response; validate this model for antibody-drug conjugates and immunotherapies; and conduct an innovation trajectory towards societal acceptance. The proposed breast tumor-on-chip comprises a 3D-multicellular culture of breast tumor, innate immune cells, cancer- associated fibroblasts, and a vasculature, in a tunable (animal-free) hydrogel matrix equipped with sensors to map in 3D important microenvironmental parameters (pH, oxygen and stiffness). The model will be applied to evaluate therapeutic efficacy for antibody- and virus-based immunotherapies, in comparison to healthy breast tissue for tolerability studies.
Working packages (WP)
About the partners
Outreach
Do you want to know more about the importance of tumor microenvironment and tumor on chip technologies? Check this interactive website: https://toc-tme-amber.netlify.app/.
Funding
This project with file number KICH1.ST04.22.015 of the research programme KIC - MISSION Emerging Key Enabling Technologies is financed by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).
Applied Microfluidics for BioEngineering Research | Chip Technology | Chip techology | Health
Multi-parametric sensing synthetic hydrogels
Smart optical and sensors and fully synthetic hydrogels to advance tumor modelling on-chip
The aim of this project is to develop innovative animal-free hydrogel matrices functionalized with luminescent molecular optical sensors, to monitor pH and oxygen levels in 3D, and to demonstrate the applicability of this multi-parametric sensing hydrogel in a tumor-on-chip device to map spatial and temporal variations of such parameters. To achieve this ambitious goal, we will develop three work packages (WP):
WP1: Molecular sensors
We will synthesize, characterize and optimize innovative luminescent molecular sensors for oxygen and pH levels, that can be covalently conjugated to hydrogel building blocks.
WP2: Synthetic sensing hydrogels
We will develop animal-free hydrogels, in which the molecular sensors are covalently conjugated, and their sensing performance towards pH and oxygen are characterized in 3D.
WP3: On-chip validation
We will validate the applicability of the sensing animal-free hydrogel matrices, in a tumor-on-chip, to map in 3D gradients in pH and oxygen across the bioengineered tumor tissue.
The aim of this project is to develop innovative animal-free hydrogel matrices functionalized with luminescent molecular optical sensors, to monitor pH and oxygen levels in 3D, and to demonstrate the applicability of this multi-parametric sensing hydrogel in a tumor-on-chip device to map spatial and temporal variations of such parameters. To achieve this ambitious goal, we will develop three work packages (WP):
WP1: Molecular sensors
We will synthesize, characterize and optimize innovative luminescent molecular sensors for oxygen and pH levels, that can be covalently conjugated to hydrogel building blocks.
WP2: Synthetic sensing hydrogels
We will develop animal-free hydrogels, in which the molecular sensors are covalently conjugated, and their sensing performance towards pH and oxygen are characterized in 3D.
WP3: On-chip validation
We will validate the applicability of the sensing animal-free hydrogel matrices, in a tumor-on-chip, to map in 3D gradients in pH and oxygen across the bioengineered tumor tissue.
Developmental BioEngineering | Health