Webinars

Using 3D in vitro tumoroids for personalized medicine

Speaker

Marilena Loizidou

Deputy Director of the Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, Head of the Department of Surgical Biotechnology, Professor of Cancer Nanotechnology, University College London (UCL)
BIOGRAPHY

Abstract

Tissue samples can vary in extracellular matrix (ECM) composition, cell heterogeneity, and rigidity. Consequently, dissociation approaches require extensive optimization and care, as improperly disaggregated samples can reduce cell viability, decrease the efficiency of cell compartmentalization and block downstream instrumentation. The isolation process involves tissue dissection, mechanical dissociation, and enzymatic breakdown of the ECM. There is a clear need for tissue dissociation systems for researchers to standardize the digestion and disaggregation of solid tissues samples to consistently obtain high quality, viable cells.

Prof. Marilena Loizidou will share the results of an eight-month study into the dissociation of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) tissues from patients for whole genome sequencing and epigenetic research applications. The cells will be used to manufacture and grow tumoroids, 3D in vitro cultures of cancer which mimic the composition and architecture of solid tumors, which will then be cultured and treated with drugs and personalized medicine. Marilena’s approach will be compared to non RCC control and current methods of dissociation.

In this webinar you will:

Compare approaches to tissue dissociation for optimizing cells for whole genome sequencing
Discuss the manufacture and development of tumoroids for use in cancer research and monitoring
Review the results of genetic and epigenetic studies comparing the dissociation of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) tissues for use in the manufacture and growth of tumoroids.