Evaluation of anticancer drug in a polymer 3D cell chip

Three-dimensional (3D) models play an important role in understanding the behavior of a tumor in a well-defined microenvironment, because some aspects of tumor characteristics cannot be fully recapitulated in cell monolayers. In this study, a novel method is presented for the culture of tumor spheroids and for in vivo 3D cell growth simulation of a tumor on a 3D cell chip fabricated in the 3rd floor structure. Scanning electron microscopy and confocal imaging show that, soon after the adjacent tumor adheres to the micropatterned pillar sidewalls, they are subsequently pulled between the pillars in a suspended position. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of mitroxanthrone in the two-dimensional (2D) plate were at the concentration of 345.65 µg/ml. In contrast, the IC50 value of 3D mitroxanthrone in the 3D cell chip was not detected at the system. Our results indicated that 3D spheroids are generated in uniformly fabricated cancer cell chips, and large numbers of morphologically homogenous spheroids are easily produced. The result showed that the 3D cancer cell chip is more resistant to anticancer agents than 2D plate cell culture. Thus, the 3D cancer cell chip could be used for high-throughput investigations of the efficacy vs. toxicity of drugs or numerous other cancer spheroid cellular and biochemical assays.