3D-TAM

3D-printed biomimetic in-vitro-tumor-angiogenesis-model

Pharmacological substances in the development of new medicines for tumor patients are tested in a multistep processes that contains the 2D-cell-culture and, in case of promising results, the in vivo animal testing.

The aim of this joint project, which is done in collaboration with another academic partner and supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung), is the development, establishment and evaluation of an in-vitro-tumor-angiogenesis-model, which forms a bridge between the cell culture and animal testing to generate meaningful in-vitro-results and thereby reduce the amount of animal testing.

For this purpose an automatic and sterile manufacturing process is established that allows the defined three-dimensional printing of a tumor in form of a hydrogel-cell-suspension with the use of a novel 3D-bioprinter. The effects of different tumor structures, their cell composites and the conditions of the cultivation are analyzed by medical imaging procedures and the artificial induced tumor angiogenesis is compared to a xenograft mouse model. In the future the 3D-TAM could be used for both, basic research on tumor angiogenesis as well as the prescreening of pharmaceuticals without animal testing in the industry.

Schematic diagram of a tumor-angiogenesis-model, which is embedded and cultured in a bioreactor including a vascular channel.