USES OF CELLULAR MICROENVIRONMENTS AND STUDYING EFFECTIVNESS OF ANTI-CANCER DRUGS

By Jared Man and Ben Roadarmel

MICROENVIRONMENTS

• Cells interacting

• Create in vivo conditions

• Various signals

• Cells contribute their own effects

• React to outside forces

• Adjust to different cues

• Recreate portions of living organisms

• Can be studied and tested

CREATION OF CELLULAR MICROENVIRONMENTS

• Cells use adhesion

• Connected through cellular signaling machinery

• Cells send messages to other cells

• Use proteins to build and repair

APPLICATIONS

• Drug testing

• Skin grafts

• Tumor studies

• Comparison to contemporary ways

THE TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT

• Cancer cells disrupt the efficient delivery of blood

• This causes cells that resort to lactic acid fermentation and increases acidity

• This causes an inefficient distribution and decreased effectiveness of chemotherapeutic drugs

THE TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT

• The only way to ensure tumor destruction is with large doses of powerful chemotherapeutic drugs

• Serious side effects occur as a result

• Using nanocapsules as a delivery system for the drugs may subside these side effects

NANOCAPSULES

• A nanoparticle could be used to encapsulate a particular drug

• This particle could then be designed to release its contents only in the presence of disrupted blood vessels

• This would facilitate efficient delivery of the drugs only to the affected area and not to any healthy cells

• This method of delivery could reduce the toxicity of cancer treatment which increase patient survivability

TESTING NANOCAPSULES

• Currently many kinds of drugs are being studied with nanocarriers

• Many of these test are done using in vitro methods

• The ability to grow complex three dimensional cellular structures is crucial to these studies

• Given that cancer is the leading cause of death around the world, the ability to test quickly could save millions of lives

TESTING NANOCAPSULES

• In vitro testing has provide valuable information to advance cancer treatment

• However, inconsistencies between preclinical studies and clinical trials still exist

• These inconsistencies can be attributed to oversimplification of the tumor microenvironment

TESTING NANOCAPSULES

• In the future, more complex three dimensional cultures must be produced to provide more applicable results

SKIN GRAFTS

• Creation of artificial replacement tissue

• Uses in vitro cultured cells to generate functional tissues

• Occur after severe trauma to the skin

• Prevents extensive scar tissue

DNA REPLICATION

• Enzymes allow sections of DNA to be cut from microenvironments

• Polymerase Chain Reaction

• Study DNA mutations

• Paternity tests

• Genetic disorders

IN VITRO PROCESSES

• Spermatozoa and egg result in an embryo

• In vitro diagnostics

• Test for certain diseases

• Report clinical status of patients

BENEFITS OF CELLULAR MICROENVIRONMENT TESTING

• Toxicity testing

• Cost-effective

• Fast

• No fear of harming people or animals

• Study portions of humans

ECONOMICS AND COST EFFICIENCY

• Cells can reproduce

• Simple to create

• Testing many drugs at once saves time

• No shortage of cancer cells

SUSTAINABILITY

• In vitro testing is time efficient

• Cost effective

• Environmentally friendly

• Places no risk on human or animal subjects

• Easily reproducible

POTENTIAL PITFALLS

• May not successfully mimic in vivo conditions

• Contaminated by outside forces

• Difficult to control internal temperatures

• Can be mishandled

• No emotional response to treatments

• Microfabrication technologies

CONCLUSION

• There are many benefits to in vitro testing

• It could help create new ways to treat cancer

• It could be used to grow replacement organs

• It could even end world hunger

• While it is not that developed yet, it is an innovation worth furthering