I-Corps: Dynamic Tissue Culture Platform for in vitro Drug Screening

University Of Toledo, Toledo OH

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project will be to introduce a transitional step between monolayer culture and animal studies for drug testing and regenerative medicine applications. The results of this effort will transform the current way of conducting drug testing and regenerative medicine studies through providing time- and cost-effective solutions to overcome the shortcomings of two-dimensional monolayer cell culture and animal models. The technology incorporates multidimensionality along with the native mechanical environment to the cell culture platform. This will reduce the time and resources spent on animal breeding and husbandry associated with using animal models without compromising the complexity of 3D environment. The technology will increase consistency, reliability, repeatability of drug toxicity assessments, which will also save time and money for researchers, scientists, and pharmaceutical companies. Further, the technology can accommodate various types of cell-encapsulated structures; thus it provides great flexibility to study different tissues in which mechanical stimuli predominantly influence the cellular functions and disease states. This I-Corps project further develops a controlled three-dimensional in vitro culture environment for cells while culturing them in physiologically relevant mechanical environment. The technology utilizes a loading chamber that provides an innovative method of handling and transfer of mechanical strains to tissue engineering scaffolds. The prior research lays the foundation of the technology's potential utilization in pharmaceutical and regenerative medicine related industries. The in vitro study results demonstrated that the technology preserves cell viability during mechanical loading and affects the lineage commitment of stem cells based on applied mechanical strain and frequency. These results are crucial to prove the concept of its utilization towards pharmaceutical and regenerative medicine applications. In the I-Corps program, the business hypothesis will be tested and redefined following customer discovery interviews. The market need for the technology will be also identified.