Discipline: Technology and Engineering
Subcategory: Biomedical Engineering
Session: 4
Room: Exhibit Hall
Kiram Harrison - FAMU-FSU College of Engineering (FAMU)
Co-Author(s): Annie Scutte, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Tallahassee; Tyler Gregory, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Tallahassee; Dr. Jamel Ali, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Tallahassee;
Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed form of cancer in the United States, with a new diagnosis every two minutes. Breast cancer rates are steadily rising, however, the development of new cancer therapeutics have not kept pace and still have low clinical efficacy. To address this need new techniques, including 3D biofabrication, are being explored to produce in vitro tissue models that mimic the complex microenvironment of breast cancer. Some of these new techniques emerged due to a new understanding that breast tissue has a microbiome, indicating that previous 2D models, based on sterile environments, are less representative of natural tissues. Here, we utilize extrusion-based bioprinting to fabricate 3D breast tumor models. Hydrogels were formulated using alginate-gelatin, seeded with varying concentrations of MDA-MB-231 epithelial breast cancer cells and the gram-negative bacteria Salmonella Typhimurium. Using shear rheology as our characterization technique, we assessed the effect of cell loading on the viscoelastic properties of the hydrogel precursor. The results of these rheological tests show that both Salmonella Typhimurium and MDA-MB-231 cell-laden gels had a consistent decrease in viscosity as the seeded cell concentrations increased. Results also indicate that Salmonella Typhimurium and MDA-MB-231 mono-cultures were successfully incorporated into the bioinks and maintained high viability (>80%) after printing. The fabrication of cell-laden hydrogels that contain microbiomes will aid our understanding of bacteria-cancer cell interactions and enable the use of in vitro biofilm-cancer models for high-throughput therapeutic screening applications.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): This work was funded by the National Science Foundation (No. HDR-2000202 and CMMI-2000330) and supported by Dow, the NSF FAMU CREST Center award (No. HDR-1735968). This research work was also supported by The Grainger Foundation Frontiers of Engineering Grant under the National Academy of Sciences Award Number: 2000013181. This material is based upon work supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under award number FA9550-22-1-0247. All the work was performed at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, which is supported by National Science Foundation Cooperative Agreement No. DMR-1644779 and the State of Florida. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of The Grainger Foundation or the National Academy of Sciences. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Air Force.
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Jamel Ali, jali@eng.famu.fsu.edu
Role: For this research, I carried out experimental procedures. I also led the data acquisition and analysis, which includes 3D bioprinting and cell viability assays.