AMSBIO report that researchers from the Medical University of Vienna (Austria), have used Lipidure® - CM5206 to coat channels in their novel microfluidic devices, to prevent cell adhesion.

The aim of the research by the Medical University of Vienna was to create physiological-relevant in vitro tissue models that offer better predictability and the potential to improve drug screening outcomes in pre-clinical studies. Despite the advances of spheroid models in pharmaceutical screening applications, variations in spheroid size and consequential altered cell responses traditionally have led to non-reproducible and unpredictable results. Having developed a novel microfluidic multisize spheroid array - the researchers characterized it using liver, lung, colon, and skin cells as well as a triple-culture model of the blood-brain barrier to assess the effects of spheroid size on anticancer drug toxicity and compound penetration. The reproducible on-chip generation of 360 spheroids of five dimensions is demonstrated in a recently published paper**.

Dr Mario Rothbauer, a Group Leader at the Medical University of Vienna commented "I’ve worked with anti-fouling surfaces for cell-based applications my entire career and so far, the Lipidure®-CM5206 has proved to be the most reliable and straight-forward approach for generation of cell repellent surfaces on microtitre plates, as well as more the complex culture environments of microfluidic, lab-on-a-chip and organ-on-a-chip systems. For our latest project we screened a panel of primary and cancer cell lines including lung, liver, gut, dermal fibroblasts and brain endothelial cells; Lipidure®-CM5206 did not let us down a single time throughout those many years."

Lipidure®-CM5206 is a biocompatible and hydrophilic white copolymer made up of repeating units of 2-(methacryloyoxy) ethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC). Lipidure®-CM5206 is designed to mimic the cell membrane surface and its molecular structure is the key for its highly hydrophilic nature and extremely low toxicity.

Lipidure® coating of microtitre plates and microfluidic devices provides a superior low attachment surface for the production of state-of-the-art 3D cell culture. Formation of organoids, spheroids, tumorspheres, embryoid bodies and neurospheres using Lipidure® coated microtitre plates have been demonstrated for cell types including ES and iPS (human and mouse), NIH3T3, pre-adipocytes, HepG2 and other cancer cell lines as well as primary neuronal cells.

For further information on the use of Lipidure®-CM5206 coated low adhesion microtitre plates and microfluidic devices please visit www.amsbio.com/Lipidure-Coat.aspx or contact AMSBIO now on +44-1235-828200 / +1-617-945-5033 / info@amsbio.com.

To read the Medical University of Vienna paper 'A Microfluidic Multisize Spheroid Array for Multiparametric Screening of Anticancer Drugs and Blood–Brain Barrier Transport Properties’ please visit https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/advs.202004856

Founded in 1987, AMS Biotechnology (AMSBIO) is recognized today as a leading transatlantic company contributing to the acceleration of discovery through the provision of cutting-edge life science technology, products and services for research and development in the medical, nutrition, cosmetics and energy industries. AMSBIO has in-depth expertise in extracellular matrices to provide elegant solutions for studying cell motility, migration, invasion and proliferation. This expertise in cell culture and the ECM allows AMSBIO to partner with clients in tailoring cell systems to enhance organoid and spheroid screening outcomes using a variety of 3D culture systems, including organ-on-a-chip microfluidics. For drug discovery research, AMSBIO offers assays, recombinant proteins and cell lines. Drawing upon a huge and comprehensive biorepository, AMSBIO is widely recognised as a leading provider of high-quality tissue specimens (including custom procurement) from both human and animal tissues. The company provides unique clinical grade products for stem cell and cell therapy applications these include high quality solutions for viral delivery (lentivirus, adenovirus and adeno-associated virus) in addition to GMP cryopreservation technology.

 
Caption:  Image A: Spheroid modelling Blood Brain Barrier using triple culture of human primary astrocytes, pericytes and cerebral microvascular endothelial cells (courtesy: Dr. Mario Rothbauer (Medical University of Vienna & Vienna University of Technology) ; Image B: Retinal organoids grown on Lipidure-coated plate (courtesy: of Dr. Valeria Chichagova (Newcells Biotech) and Prof. Lako (Newcastle University).