A tissue chamber chip for assessing nanoparticle mobility in the extravascular space.

A tissue chamber chip for assessing nanoparticle mobility in the extravascular space. Biomed Microdevices. 2019 Apr 06;21(2):41 Authors: Lusi V, Moore TL, Laurino F, Coclite A, Perreira R, Ferreira M, Rizzuti I, Palomba R, Zunino P, Duocastella M, Mizrahy S, Peer D, Decuzzi P Abstract Although a plethora of nanoparticle configurations have been proposed over the past 10 years, the uniform and deep penetration of systemically injected nanomedicines into the diseased tissue stays as a major biological barrier. Here, a 'Tissue Chamber' chip is designed and fabricated to study the extravascular transport of small molecules and nanoparticles. The chamber comprises a collagen slab, deposited within a PDMS mold, and an 800 μm channel for the injection of the working solution. Through fluorescent microscopy, the dynamics of molecules and nanoparticles was estimated within the gel, under different operating conditions. Diffusion coefficients were derived from the analysis of the particle mean square displacements (MSD). For validating the experimental apparatus and the protocol for data analysis, the diffusion D of FITC-Dextran molecules of 4, 40 and 250 kDa was first quantified. As expected, D reduces with the molecular weight of the dextran molecules. The MSD-derived diffusion coefficients were in good agreement with values derived via fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), an alternative technique that solely applies to sma...
Source: Biomedical Microdevices - Category: Biomedical Engineering Authors: Tags: Biomed Microdevices Source Type: research