Microfluidic Prostate Tumor-on-a-Chip Model for in vitro Recapitulation of the Tumor Microcnvironment

摘要

3D in vitro BioTTs more accurately recapitulated several characteristics of the native TME, as compared to conventional anti-cancer therapeutic testing platforms. Macrotissue encapsulated prostate cancer and fibroblast cells had appropriate circular and elongated morphologies, respectively, within the PF matrix over 29 days in coculture. The mechanical stiffness of in vivo prostate tumors differed between geometric tumor regions; BioTTs successfully recapitulated the full in vivo stiffness range through matrix composition modulation. Extending the BioTT to a microfluidic tumor-on-a-chip platform augmented the physiological relevancy of the model by introducing dynamic flow conditions and the ability to monitor tumor cell metastasis. Future studies will investigate the ability of the prostate tumor-on-a-chip to accurately predict anti-cancer therapeutic efficacy in vivo.