Technologies

Background

Early concept stage screening of compounds for potential therapeutic application is a critical stage in drug development and represents a market of over USD$1.2B/yr. It is estimated that cell-based and HCS assays represented approximately $560 million in sales in 2007. Cell based assays are emerging as an alternative to HTS as they provide a closer representation of actual tissues, provide the flexibility of being able to evaluate a number of diverse cellular outcomes simultaneously, and allow one to examine specificity and functionality. To be effective, these assays must be relatively simple, reproducible, and relevant to the system to be evaluated. Similarly, while social pressure in Europe and Asia call to reduce the application of animals for biomedical research purposes, it has been estimated that 80% of the animals used for toxicology testing could potentially be replaced by tissue engineered products.

The difficulty in generating complex blood vessels in vitro has been an important limitation to the adoption and application of complex cell based models for studies of angiogenesis and vasculogenesis. While the formation of endothelial tubes is well known within the academic literature, the ability to generate integrated vessels that contain vascular endothelial cells with associated smooth muscle cells has been elusive. Similarly, the generation of stable, secure and invested blood vessels has been a challenge for tissue engineers, 2D and 3D cell based assay developers, and those considering regenerative medicine strategies employing stem and progenitor cells seeding within biomaterials. The ability to develop a system for self-assembling relevant cell types into stable, reactive blood vessels in vitro would allow for the discovery of factors affecting vasculogenesis and subsequent angiogenesis as well as screen compounds for their ability to affect such processes.