Microdevices for cancer stem cell culture as a predictive chemotherapeutic response platform.

Microfluidic platforms for clinical use are a promising translational strategy for cancer research specially for drug screening. Identifying cancer stem cells (CSC) using sphere culture techniques in microfluidic devices (MDs) showed to be better reproducing physiological responses than other in vitro models and allow the optimization of samples and reagents. We evaluated individual sphere proliferation and stemness toward chemotherapeutic treatment (CT) with doxorubicin and cisplatin in bladder cancer cell lines (MB49-I and J82) cultured in MDs used as CSC treatment response platform.

Novel Reproducible Manufacturing and Reversible Sealing Method for Microfluidic Devices.

Conventional manufacturing methods for polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based microdevices require multiple steps and elements that increase cost and production time. Also, these PDMS microdevices are mostly limited to single use, and it is difficult to recover the contents inside the microchannels or perform advanced microscopy visualization due to their irreversible sealing method. Herein, we developed a novel manufacturing method based on polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) plates adjusted using a mechanical pressure-based system.