Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology(IBN), the world's first bioengineering and nanotechnology researchinstitute, have developed a miniaturized biochip for investigatingthe effect of drugs on cancer stem cells (CSCs). Published recently in Nano Today, this new technology could boost the development of more effective cancer drugs. In a tumor, CSCs form a small and distinct class of cancer cellsthat are more resistant to chemotherapy. Similar to stem cellsfound in human tissues, CSCs can produce and differentiate intodifferent cell types. If CSCs are not eradicated, they canrepopulate the tumor and lead to cancer recurrence. Hence, it isimportant for researchers to understand the efficacy of anti-cancerdrugs against CSCs. However, since CSCs are so scarce - they makeup approximately 1% of cancer cells - their study has been hamperedby conventional drug screening methods, which require large samplevolumes and are slow and expensive. A team of researchers led by IBN Executive Director, ProfessorJackie Y. Ying, has developed a miniaturized biological assaycalled the Droplet Array to perform cheaper, faster and moreconvenient drug screening using limited samples. In traditional biological assays, microplates - a flat plate withmultiple wells in which samples are placed - are commonly used, andeach well requires at least 2,500 or 5,000 cells, to be present forviable analysis. By comparison, IBN's Droplet Array is a flat,rectangular glass plate on which a series of spots, each 2millimeters in diameter, are arranged. The samples are pipettedinto these tiny spots, making them appear like droplets. The plateis then coated with a layer of proprietary oil to preventevaporation and cross contamination between the sample dropletsduring the rinsing process. An accompanying bench-top device toautomate the rinsing process of the plate has also been developed.Being one-fifth the size of a well in a standard microplate, eachspot on IBN's Droplet Array requires only 500 cells for screening.This massive reduction in sample volume not only saves money, butis also particularly advantageous for studying scarce quantities oftarget cells, such as CSCs. Using the Droplet Array, the IBN researchers investigated the drugresponses of CSCs extracted from breast, liver and colon cancer cells. It was found that chemotherapeutic drugs such asdoxorubicin, which usually induce cell death in liver cancer cells, demonstrated poor efficacy in liver CSCs. The CSCs from thebreast and colon tumors also showed much greater ability to survivethe effects of anti-cancer drugs. Animal studies were conducted to validate the findings of theDroplet Array. CSCs and non-CSCs from liver tumors were implantedinto two different sets of mice at the same time. After 6 weeks,tumors were formed in the mice implanted with CSCs, whereas themice without CSCs did not develop any tumors. Tumors extracted fromthe mice with CSCs also showed blood vessel formation, whichconfirmed the self-renewal property of these cells. The drug resistance properties of CSCs have been widely discussedin recent years but until now, it has been challenging to quantifythis correlation. Using the Droplet Array, IBN researchers havesuccessfully demonstrated that CSCs can survive chemotherapy anddrive metastasis. Professor Jackie Y. Ying said, "The Droplet Array marks asignificant breakthrough in nanotechnology and lab-on-a-chipconcepts, and provides an efficient platform for accelerating drugscreening and development. The study of cancer stem cells, inparticular, is an exciting application of this technology for boththe academic and pharmaceutical industries. We hope that thisfinding will facilitate the development of more effective cancerdrugs. We also hope to leverage on the Droplet Array's capabilitiesto complement/replace animal models for drug toxicity testing, anddevelop new cancer diagnostics." Designed for ease of use, this miniaturized biochip is compatiblewith existing laboratory instruments, such as plate readers andmicroscopes, and reduces the set-up cost and the need to purchaseadditional equipment when adapting to this new technology. TheDroplet Array technology is currently being commercialized by IBN'sfirst spinoff company, Curiox Biosystems Pte Ltd, as DropArrayTM. Additional References Citations. I am an expert from gift-packagingboxes.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Kraft Paper Card , Custom Magazine Printing, Cardboard Display Box,and more.
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