Technology

 

HµREL Multi-tissue™

 

HμREL^® possesses great adaptability to simulate different multi-tissue interactions.  As a demonstration, HμREL^® was tested on tegafur, a chemotherapeutic pro-drug. Tegafur itself is inactive and requires biotransformation by CYP450 enzymes present in the liver to generate the virulently cancer cell-killing metabolite 5’-fluorouracil (5-FU). 

 

 

Both tegafur and, separately, 5-FU were exposed in a two-compartment HμREL^® device containing hepatocytes cultured in the liver compartment and colon cancer cells cultured in the "target tissue" compartment.  For comparison, both compounds were also tested on colon cancer cells using a conventional, static cell-based assay with no liver cells present.

 

With the HμREL^® system, both tegafur and 5-FU were found to be cytotoxic to colon cancer cells in a dose-dependent fashion. However, tegafur was ineffective when tested using the traditional static assay. Moreover, HμREL^® demonstrated cytotoxicity much more strongly with either compound than the static assay did with 5-FU. This confirmed that recirculation of the drug-containing culture medium through HμREL^®‘s liver compartment biotransformed tegafur into 5-FU.