Promise Emeh

The blood vessels of the central nervous (CNS) system form a tight, protective blood-brain barrier (BBB). This barrier is essential for healthy CNS function but also poses a hurdle in the treatment of increasingly common neurological disorders. Additionally, BBB dysfunction is a hallmark of many neurological diseases, further emphasizing a need for a better understanding of BBB function in health and disease. We present a human self-assembling 3D model of the BBB in a microfluidic cell culture platform that allows culture of 48 models in parallel on one tissue culture plate. Human brain microvascular endothelial cells, pericytes, and astrocytes form highly reproducible BBB vascular networks under unidirectional perfusion and remain viable for a minimum of 14 days. Immunostaining reveals close cell-cell interactions with pericytes and astrocyte end-feet in direct contact with the brain microvasculature. Compared to endothelial monocultures, co-culture with astrocytes or pericytes results in improved barrier function, lower vessel diameters, increased branching, and alignment of the vessels in the direction of fluid flow. These results were most pronounced in tri-cultures containing all three cell types. Unlike similar models previously reported, this brain microvasculature model allows for unidirectional perfusion without the need for pumps and syringes. Combined with its high-throughput nature, this feature renders the model suitable for studies of BBB function in health and disease, and assessment of potential BBB restorative therapies.

Neurons form predefined connections and innervate target tissues through elongating axons, which are crucial for the development, maturation, and function of these tissues. However, innervation is often overlooked in tissue engineering (TE) applications. Here, multimaterial 3D bioprinting is used to develop a novel 3D axonal guidance structure in vitro. The approach uses the stiffness difference of acellular hyaluronic acid‐based bioink printed as two alternating, parallel‐aligned filaments. The structure has soft passages incorporated with guidance cues for axonal elongation while the stiff bioink acts as a structural support and contact guidance. The mechanical properties and viscosity differences of the bioinks are confirmed. Additionally, human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) ‐derived neurons form a 3D neuronal network in the softer bioink supplemented with guidance cues whereas the stiffer restricts the network formation. Successful 3D multimaterial bioprinting of the axonal structure enables complete innervation by peripheral neurons via soft passages within 14 days of culture. This model provides a novel, stable, and long‐term platform for studies of 3D innervation and axonal dynamics in health and disease.

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) are self-renewing and multipotent progenitors, which constitute the main cellular compartment of the bone marrow stroma. Because MSCs have an important role in the pathogenesis of multiple myeloma, it is essential to know if novel drugs target MSCs. Melflufen is a novel anticancer peptide–drug conjugate compound for patients with relapsed refractory multiple myeloma. Here, we studied the cytotoxicity of melflufen, melphalan and doxorubicin in healthy human bone marrow-derived MSCs (BMSCs) and how these drugs affect BMSC proliferation. We established co-cultures of BMSCs with MM.1S myeloma cells to see if BMSCs increase or decrease the cytotoxicity of melflufen, melphalan, bortezomib and doxorubicin. We evaluated how the drugs affect BMSC differentiation into adipocytes and osteoblasts and the BMSC-supported formation of vascular networks. Our results showed that BMSCs were more sensitive to melflufen than to melphalan. The cytotoxicity of melflufen in myeloma cells was not affected by the co-culture with BMSCs, as was the case for melphalan, bortezomib and doxorubicin. Adipogenesis, osteogenesis and BMSC-mediated angiogenesis were all affected by melflufen. Melphalan and doxorubicin affected BMSC differentiation in similar ways. The effects on adipogenesis and osteogenesis were not solely because of effects on proliferation, seen from the differential expression of differentiation markers normalized by cell number. Overall, our results indicate that melflufen has a significant impact on BMSCs, which could possibly affect therapy outcome.