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Microcell arrays – obtain more accurate data from single living cells

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Understanding how mammalian cells function requires a dynamic perspective. Recent improvements in our abilities to perform fluorescence microscopy on primary cells, coupled with advances in pipelines for quantifying and extracting data, have made possible a better understanding of the temporal complexity of cell signalling pathway. Due to the heterogeneity seen in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cell populations, study at the single cell resolution with living cells is currently the best solution to understand the dynamics between environmental conditions and cellular behaviour.

However as living cells don’t stay still, classical imaging and studying methods present some drawbacks for single cell analysis and tracking such as: [Read more…]

3D Cell culture: Innovative cell culture devices for more predictive 3D models

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One of the biggest challenges as a researcher in life sciences, is to obtain proof of concept the more predictive as possible. To help you to reach your objectives, many innovative tools are being developed and new techniques are emerging. In this post, I’d like to essentially focus on two innovative cell culture devices which mimic in-vivo conditions in in-vitro systems, in fields such as 3D cell culture, Microfluidics and oriented cell culture. [Read more…]

CTLA-4 discovery in dendritic cells – a new role in Cancer Immunotherapy?

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New research suggests that dendritic cells produce and release CTLA-4, which typically inhibits anticancer responses.

Cancer immunotherapy strategies have made it increasingly evident that the immune system plays an integral role in managing and destroying cancer. Nevertheless, many mechanisms of immune suppression exist that may inhibit antitumour immunity. Recently, strategies that implement antibodies directed against negative immunologic regulators have demonstrated significant success. Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associate protein-4 (CTLA-4) was the first immunologic checkpoint to be clinically targeted, by the cancer immunotherapeutic ipilimumab, an FDA-approved drug to treat melanoma. After T-cell activation, CTLA-4 is upregulated on the cell surface where it functions to downregulate T cell function. Ipilimumab binds to CTLA-4 on T cells, which blocks the inhibitory signals and enhances anti-cancer immune responses.

[Read more…]

Align your cells with nanoscale topography cell cultureware

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NanoSurface Biomedical’s ANFS (Anisotropically NanoFabricated Substratum) technology brings an in vivo-like cell culture platform to researchers for in vitro cell/tissue studies.Align your cells - NanoSurface Biomedical at tebu-bio

Featuring topographical resemblance to the extracellular matrix, these nanopatterned substrates provide a topographical and mechanical niche for cells to grow as if they are in vivo.

The nanopatterned surfaces influence both cellular morphology and phenotype.

For example, when used with cardiomyocytes, one can observe formation of striated sarcomeres, intercalated discs, and polarized expression of gap junction proteins such as Connexin 43 (Cx43).

Phenotypically, cells cultured on ANFS are more mature, and more physiological, so that your studies are more predictive.

[Read more…]

How to choose the best 3D technology for your assay?

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Cell culture models using 2D substrates have provided important conceptual advances in understanding the biology of cells. However, cells grown on flat 2D surfaces can differ substantially from physiological environments. Animal models provide a useful tool to study biology in a physiologically relevant environment. However, animals models are expensive, time-consuming, use a significant amount of test material, and do not always provide a useful extrapolation to humans. In vitro 3D cell culture models bridge the gap between the two, allowing the study of human cells in a physiologically-relevant environment with the convenience and speed of an in vitro model. [Read more…]

“Extraordinary” CAR T Cells eliminate cancer after stem cell transplant

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Donor-derived lymphocytes attack a patient’s cancer — but may attack the patient as well. Donor chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, on the other hand, brought remissions without this troubling complication.

CAR T cells continue to make waves: At the latest annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, it was announced that CAR T cells, in which T cells from a patient are genetically reprogrammed to target cancer cells, removed all traces of cancer in the bone marrow of 27 out of 29 acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients. Nineteen of 30 individuals with non-Hodgkin lymphoma also responded in the form of partial or complete responses. The cumulative successes found in CAR T cell studies have labeled them “extraordinary.”[1] [Read more…]

Toxicity Assessment of Co-Culture Human Systems

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The inadequacy of animal models to predict human biology in the drug development process is becoming increasingly clear, due to species differences in uptake and metabolism at both cellular and organ levels.

As a result, there is a need for more human model systems to be incorporated earlier in research and development.

Innovative concepts such as “body on a chip” have been introduced, but the complexity and miniaturization of many of the formats has limited applicability on a commercial scale.

SciKon is developing tools that better recapitulate biological systems in bench-top cell culture formats, which are amenable to mass manufacturing (introduced recently in the post Cell Signaling isn’t static…your cell culture shouldn’t be either!). [Read more…]

Cell signaling isn’t static… your cell culture shouldn’t be either

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Complex cell culture systems are emerging as key tools to improve physiological relevance of in vitro assay systems. There have been two main ways by which investigators attempt to improve mimicking of physiological conditions in cell and tissue culture. The first is to develop more complex model systems where two or more cell types are co-cultured in a 3D structure either separated by membranes or in spheroids [1]. The second is to incorporate fluidic-flow where the motion of the media itself has been shown to improve metabolic function and lifespan [2,3].

Despite the success of better recapitulating function at the cellular level using these two methods, neither of these approaches addresses the issue of the non-linear nature of the drug or toxicant exposure as is observed in an in vivo system [4]. As a result, the capacity to accurately predict in vivo pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics still falls short reaching at best 60-70% accuracy [5,6].

So what’s new in this area? We were interested to discover the following system, which we think will be of interest to many researchers. Let’s take a closer look at the characteristics and how it can be used. [Read more…]