Llenas Marina, Paoli Roberto, Feiner-Gracia Natalia, Albertazzi Lorenzo, Samitier Josep, Caballero David
Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Baldiri Reixac 15-21, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Department of Electronics and Biomedical Engineering, University of Barcelona, C. Martí i Franqués 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Bioengineering (Basel). 2021 Jun 9;8(6):81. doi: 10.3390/bioengineering8060081.
Tumor vessel-on-a-chip systems have attracted the interest of the cancer research community due to their ability to accurately recapitulate the multiple dynamic events of the metastatic cascade. Vessel-on-a-chip microfluidic platforms have been less utilized for investigating the distinctive features and functional heterogeneities of tumor-derived vascular networks. In particular, vascular tumors are characterized by the massive formation of thrombi and severe bleeding, a rare and life-threatening situation for which there are yet no clear therapeutic guidelines. This is mainly due to the lack of technological platforms capable of reproducing these characteristic traits of the pathology in a simple and well-controlled manner. Herein, we report the fabrication of a versatile tumor vessel-on-a-chip platform to reproduce, investigate, and characterize the massive formation of thrombi and hemorrhage on-chip in a fast and easy manner. Despite its simplicity, this method offers multiple advantages to recapitulate the pathophysiological events of vascular tumors, and therefore, may find useful applications in the field of vascular-related diseases, while at the same time being an alternative to more complex approaches.
芯片上的肿瘤血管系统因其能够准确重现转移级联的多个动态事件而引起了癌症研究界的兴趣。芯片上的血管微流控平台在研究肿瘤衍生血管网络的独特特征和功能异质性方面的应用较少。特别是，血管肿瘤的特征是大量形成血栓和严重出血，这是一种罕见且危及生命的情况，目前尚无明确的治疗指南。这主要是由于缺乏能够以简单且可控的方式再现该病理学这些特征的技术平台。在此，我们报告了一种通用的芯片上肿瘤血管平台的制造方法，该方法能够快速、轻松地在芯片上再现、研究和表征血栓的大量形成和出血情况。尽管该方法简单，但它具有多种优势，可概括血管肿瘤的病理生理事件，因此，可能在血管相关疾病领域找到有用的应用，同时也是更复杂方法的一种替代方案。
