Biomimesys®: a 3D physiological scaffold for drug selection in early drug discovery

The re-creation of the tumor microenvironment including cell-matrix interactions, cell-cell adhesion and cellular signaling is essential in cancer-related studies. Three-dimensional (3D) tissue constructs consisting of human cells have opened possibilities for tissue engineering, pharmaceutical and pathophysiological applications, and have great potential to estimate the dynamic pharmacological effects of drug candidates. In fact, many drugs show promising results in vitro, most fail to translate into in vivo an animal model and lead to a high attrition rate. Therefore, CELENYS developed a new tool to mimic the tumor microenvironment (biomimesys®).
Biomimesys® is a degradable, physiological, easy to use 3D cell system from which the cells can be easily and rapidly collected and analysed using all conventional methods (DNA/RNA/protein extraction, q/RT-PCR, western blot, flow cytometry, microscopy, ImmunoChemistry, Fluorescence etc).
Using various cancer cell lines, we characterized and compared our 3D culture system based on hyaluronic acid, one of the major components of the extracellular matrix and the traditional flat 2D cell culture. We observed differences in the cell cycle, cell proliferation and behavior and underlined the presence of cell cycle heterogeneity in biomimesys® as observed in an in vivo human tumors. Moreover we have confirmed that resistance to chemotherapeutic reagents within biomimesys® is much higher than in 2D cultures. Additionally, we have observed the difference of apoptotic protein expression between 2D and 3D cell culture.
With the help of advanced engineering techniques, the development of a novel complex 3D in vitro cancer model system such as biomimesys® will provide a better understanding of cancer mechanisms and allow more efficient drug selection to the pharmaceutical industry.