SCIENCE AT THE EDGE SEMINAR SERIES

Engineering Seminar

Friday, 09 November 2012 at 11:30am

Room 1400 Biomedical and Physical Sciences Bldg.

Refreshments at 11:15

Speaker: Jonathan Dordick
         Departments of Chemical & Biological Engineering,
         Biomedical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, and Biology
         Center for Biotechnology & Interdisciplinary Studies
         Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Title:   High-Throughput 3D Cell Culture for Drug Discovery and Human Toxicology

Abstract:

The need for increased knowledge of drug candidates at early stages of
discovery is driving the development of new, high-throughput, and high-content
technologies. Traditional ADME/Tox strategies are often slow and focused on
later stage lead compounds and preclinical candidates.  However, the
pervasiveness of toxicity in highly potent drug candidates necessitates that
decisions on drug candidate advancement in the discovery process involve high
quality and predictive information on potential toxicological impacts of the
candidates. This talk will provide an overview of the various chip-based
technologies developed in our group that enable earlier assessment of ADME/Tox
in the drug development process. The centerpiece of our approach involves the
use of a three-dimensional mammalian cell culture "DataChip" (Data Analysis
Toxicology Assay Chip) that consists of 500-1000 individual cell cultures on a
microscope size slide "biochip". A broad range of human and animal cells
have been used on the DataChip, including primary cells and transformed cell
lines from multiple tissues, as well as human and animal stem cells. Together
with the MetaChip (Metabolizing Toxicology Assay Chip that consists of a human
CYP450 and Phase II enzyme microarray), it is possible to assess both parent
and human metabolite toxicity against a wide array of different cell types,
and therefore, accelerate toxicity assessment of drug candidates and chemicals
at unprecedented speeds.