A nanodroplet cell processing platform facilitating drug synergy evaluations for anti-cancer treatments

Ching Te Kuo, Jong Yueh Wang, Siang Rong Lu, Yu Sheng Lai, Hsiu Hao Chang, Jer Tsong Hsieh, Andrew M. Wo, Benjamin P.C. Chen, Jen Her Lu, Hsinyu Lee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Therapeutic drug synergism intervened in cancer treatments has been demonstrated to be more effective than using a single effector. However, it remains inherently challenging, with a limited cell count from tumor samples, to achieve potent personalized drug cocktails. To address the issue above, we herein present a nanodroplet cell processing platform. The platform incorporates an automatic nanodroplet dispenser with cell array ParaStamp chips, which were fabricated by a new wax stamping approach derived from laser direct writing. Such approach enables not only the on-demand de-wetting with hydrophobic wax films on substrates but also the mask-less fabrication of non-planar microstructures (i.e. no photolithography process). The ParaStamp chip was pre-occupied with anti-cancer drugs and their associate mixtures, enabling for the spatially addressable screening of optimal drug combinations simultaneously. Each droplet with a critical volume of 200 nl containing with 100 cells was utilized. Results revealed that the optimal combination reduces approximate 28-folds of conducted doses compared with single drugs. Tumor inhibition with the optimally selected drug combination was further confirmed by using PC-3 tumor-bearing mouse models. Together, the nanodroplet cell processing platform could therefore offer new opportunities to power the personalized cancer medicine at early-stage drug screening and discovery.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number10120
JournalScientific reports
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2019

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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