###Towards the development of a high-throughput microfluidic platform for drug screening: using skeletal muscle as an ‘exemplar’ tissue
Project ID: 2228bd1066 (You will need this ID for your application)
Research Theme: Healthcare Technologies
UCL Lead department: Division of Surgery and Interventional Sciences
Lead Supervisor: Darren Player
Project Summary:
There has been significant advancement in the area of drug screening technology in recent decades, particularly with the development of more complex in vitro models that more closely represent the native tissue environment. Despite these advances, there are certain features which are yet to be fully explored. Namely, robust methodologies to simulate the vascular system for drug delivery and also the influence of tissue structure and mechanics (3D) on pharmacokinetics. Indeed, in order that there can be confidence in the safety, toxicity and efficacy data from in vitro models, these areas need to be addressed.
Working with a commercial partner (Bi/ond), this project aims to use a microfluidic platform which will simulate the vascular delivery of a test compound to tissue engineered skeletal muscle. Investigations of flow rate, timing and volume will be optimised using a fluorescently labelled compound that can be imaged to examine uptake at both tissue and cellular levels. Such data will be used to optimise the conditions necessary for developing a reliable screening platform for skeletal muscle disorders.
This project will provide the foundational information necessary to then test known nutraceutical and pharmaceutical compounds, which have been demonstrated to have efficacy in vivo to alleviate skeletal muscle disorders. This will be an important validation step towards the adoption of this model for larger scale pre-clinical screening.
For a further stage of the project, the experimental data will be used to inform an in silico model, which will help to set boundaries necessary to develop a predictive model of drug delivery.