Tumour necrosis has long been associated with poor prognosis and reduced survival in cancer. Hypotheses to explain this include the idea that as aggressive tumours tend to grow rapidly, they outgrow their blood supply leading to areas of hypoxia and subsequently necrosis. However whilst this and similar hypotheses have been put forward to explain the association, the biological significance of the cells which make up necrotic tissue has been largely ignored. This stems from the belief that because a tumour is more aggressive and fast growing it develops areas of necrosis, rather than, the tumour is more aggressive because it contains areas of necrosis. Which came first like the egg and chicken is yet to be determined, however to date most research has only considered the possibility of the former. Viable cells were found in the necrotic core of Multicellular Tumour Spheroids. When examined these cells were found to be different to the original cell line in terms of proliferation, migration, and chemosensitivity. A proteomic analysis showed that these phenotypical changes were accompanied by changes in a large number of proteins within the cells, some of which could be potential therapeutic targets. Furthermore this has led to a new hypothesis for tumour necrosis and its association with poor prognosis. Necrotic tissue provides a microenvironemental niche for cells with increased survival capabilities. Protected from many chemotherapeutics by their non-proliferative status once conditions improve these cells can return to proliferation and repopulate the tumour with an increasingly aggressive population of cells.

Cellular redox potential is incredibly important for the control and regulation of a vast number of processes occurring in cells. Disruption of the fine redox balance within cells is has been associated with disease. Of particular interest to my research is the redox gradient that develops in cancer tumours, in which the internal regions are further from vascular blood supply and therefore become starved of oxygen and hypoxic. This makes treatment of these areas a lot more challenging, as radiotherapy approaches rely on the presence of oxygen and, with a poor vascular blood supply, drugs delivered through the blood stream will have poor access to these regions. Currently, there is limited knowledge regarding the quantitative nature of this redox gradient in cancerous tumours. To aid the development of drugs and therapies to overcome this problem, a system that enables quantitative mapping of redox potential through a tumour would be a vital tool. In this work redox sensitive molecules attached to gold nanoparticles (NPs) are delivered to cells and give signals using surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Redox potential changes are monitored quantitatively by ratiometric changes in signal intensity of selected signals in the SER spectra acquired. Multicellular tumour spheroids (MTS) are used as a three dimensional (3D) in vitro tumour model, in which the 3D architecture and gradients observed in tumours in vivo develop. As redox potential is pH dependent and pH is another important physiological characteristic in its own right, a SERS pH sensor was developed and ultimately a system that multiplexes intracellular pH and redox measurement by SERS. Initially, simultaneous redox potential and pH measurements were performed in monolayer culture before extending this to MTS. Photothermal optical coherence tomography (OCT) was used to investigate overall 3D NP distribution in the MTS models. It was possible to control NP delivery to MTS to localise NPs to various regions. Redox potential and pH could then be measured using a fibre optic Raman probe, and spatial response to drug treatment monitored. Intracellular NP localisation was investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), helium ion microscopy (HIM) and confocal fluorescence microscopy (CFM) and attempts were made to control NP delivery to particular intracellular compartments.

Une tumeur est une structure tridimensionnelle hautement organisée, constituée d’une population hétérogène de cellules en étroites interactions avec leur microenvironnement. Cette organisation et ces interactions sont déterminantes dans le processus de tumorigenèse. Des données récentes montrent que les modifications des propriétés mécaniques du microenvironnement sont des paramètres essentiels du développement tumoral qu’il est important de caractériser et de considérer dans une perspective d’innovations en thérapie anticancéreuse. Une tumeur est également caractérisée par des propriétés mécaniques intrinsèques qui pourraient résulter de son organisation, de sa croissance, des interactions cellule-cellule, cellule-matrice et de la prolifération cellulaire. Différentes études montrent que les propriétés mécaniques intrinsèques des tumeurs, et en particulier le stress accumulé au cours de la croissance, vont avoir un impact sur la réponse au traitement. Le sphéroïde, modèle in vitro 3D multicellulaire, mime l’architecture tridimensionnelle et l’hétérogénéité cellulaire existant dans un micro-domaine tumoral in vivo. Ses propriétés et son caractère prédictif de la réponse pharmacologique, en font un modèle de choix largement utilisé pour l’évaluation pré-clinique de médicaments. L’objectif de nos travaux a été de caractériser les propriétés mécaniques intrinsèques d’un modèle de sphéroïde et d’en étudier l’impact sur l’organisation cellulaire. La démarche pluridisciplinaire mise en œuvre a été élaborée et conduite en considérant le sphéroïde comme un matériau. Nous avons ainsi montré que, comme les tumeurs, les sphéroïdes accumulent un stress mécanique au cours de leur croissance que la modélisation nous a permis d’associer à une force tangentielle périphérique. Selon les conditions de production des sphéroïdes utilisées, le stress mécanique accumulé se traduit par des différences d’organisation cellulaire et de rigidité de surface mise en évidence en AFM. Nous avons également montré par microscopie 3D, que l’accumulation du stress mécanique est associée à un alignement des noyaux parallèlement à la surface des sphéroïdes qui dépend du cytosquelette d’actine et des interactions intercellulaires. Enfin, nous avons développé, par microfabrication, un dispositif, adapté à des échantillons submillimétriques comme les sphéroïdes, pour caractériser leur module élastique. L’ensemble de ces travaux apporte des éléments de compréhension des conséquences des contraintes mécaniques intrinsèques sur l’organisation d’une micro-tumeur. Ces paramètres pourraient avoir un impact sur la diffusion et l’efficacité d’agents thérapeutiques et nécessitent donc d’être explorées dans une perspective d’optimisation de l’évaluation pharmacologique. / A tumor is a highly organized three-dimensional structure constituted by a heterogeneous population of cells in close interaction with their microenvironment. This organization and these interactions are central in the process of tumorigenesis. Recent evidence shows that changes in the mechanical properties of the microenvironment are essential parameters of tumor development that must be considered in a therapeutic innovation perspective. A tumor is also characterized by intrinsic mechanical properties that could result from its organization, growth, cell-cell, cell-matrix interactions and cell proliferation. Different studies show that the intrinsic mechanical properties of tumors, and specifically the growth-accumulated stress, might impair the therapeutic response. The spheroid, a multicellular 3D in vitro model, mimics the three-dimensional architecture and cell heterogeneity found in vivo in a tumor micro-domain. Its properties and the predictivity of its response to anti-tumor drugs, make it a validated and widely used model for pre-clinical evaluation.The objective of our work was to characterize the intrinsic mechanical properties of a spheroid model and to study their impact on the cellular organization. The multidisciplinary approach implemented considers the spheroid as a material. We have shown that, like tumors, spheroids accumulate mechanical stress during their growth. Mathematical modeling has allowed associating this stress with a peripheral tangential force. Depending on the production conditions the accumulated mechanical stress results in a difference in cell organization and surface stiffness, evidenced using AFM. We have also demonstrated, using 3D microscopy that the accumulation of mechanical stress is associated with nuclei alignment parallel to spheroid surface that depends on actin cytoskeleton and cell-cell interactions. Finally, we have developed, using microfabrication technologies, a device, adapted to submillimetric samples such as spheroids, to characterize their elastic modulus. This work contributes to our understanding of the consequences of intrinsic mechanical stresses on the organization of a micro-tumor. These parameters could have an impact on the diffusion and efficacy of therapeutic agents and therefore need to be further investigated in a pharmacological evaluation optimization perspective.

This research utilizes Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy, a technique classically used for electrochemical analysis and material characterization, as the basis for a non-destructive, label-free assay platform for three dimensional (3D) cellular spheroids. In this work, a linear array of microelectrodes is optimized to rapidly respond to changes located within a 3D multicellular model. In addition, this technique is coupled with an on chip micro-pH sensor for monitoring the environment around the cells. Finally, the responses of both impedance and pH are correlated with physical changes within the cellular model. The impedance analysis system realized through this work provides a foundation for the development of high-throughput drug screening systems that utilize multiple parallel sensing modalities including pH and impedance sensing in order to quickly assess the efficacy of specific drug candidates. The slow development of new drugs is mainly attributed to poor predictability of current chemosensitivity and resistivity assays, as well as genetic differences between the animal models used for tests and humans. In addition, monolayer cultures used in early experimentation are fundamentally different from the complex structure of organs in vivo. This requires the study of smaller 3D models (spheroids) that more efficiently replicate the conditions within the body. The main objective of this research was to develop a microfluidic system on a chip that is capable of deducing viability and morphology of 3D tumor spheroids by monitoring both the impedance of the cellular model and the pH of their local environment. This would provide a fast and reliable method for screening pharmaceutical compounds in a high-throughput system.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The toxicity of platinum anticancer drugs presents a major obstacle in the effective treatment of tumours. Much of the toxicity stems from a lack of specificity of the drugs for the sites at which they are able to exert maximum anticancer activity. An improved understanding of the behaviour of the drugs in the tumour environment may assist in the rational design of future platinum anticancer agents with enhanced specificity and reduced toxicity. In the work presented herein, the specificity of two classes of platinum anticancer agents was assessed (platinum(IV) cisplatin analogues and platinum(II) anthraquinone complexes). The interaction of the platinum(IV) agents with DNA, believed to be their main cellular target, was examined using XANES spectroscopy. This experiment was designed to assess the ability of the drugs to interact with DNA and thus exert their anticancer activity. It was shown that the platinum(IV) complexes were not reduced by DNA during 48 hr incubation. It was not possible to conclusively determine whether the interaction of the complexes with DNA was direct or platinum(II) catalysed, or whether interaction had occurred at all. The distribution of platinum(II) anthraquinone complexes and their corresponding anthraquinone ligands in tumour cells (A2780 ovarian and DLD-1 colon cancer cell lines) was investigated. The cytotoxicity of the compounds in DLD-1 cells was also assessed. It was found that the compounds were efficiently taken up into the cells and entered the lysosomal compartments almost exclusively. This suggested that the cytotoxicity of the drugs was caused by lysosomal disruption, or that the platinum complexes were degraded, leaving a platinum species to enter the cell nuclei and interact with DNA. Alternatively, the complexes may bind to proteins and transport into the nuclei of the cells, though with their fluorescence quenched by the protein. The penetration and distribution of platinum(IV) complexes was assessed in DLD-1 multicellular tumour spheroids (established models of solid tumours) using a number of synchrotron techniques, including micro-tomography, micro-SRIXE, and micro-XANES. The complexes were found to be capable of penetrating throughout the entire volume of the spheroids. Micro-XANES indicated that in central and peripheral spheroidal regions, bound platinum species were present largely as platinum(II).

A biological assay is designed to set up a rapid and robust drug-screening system on a small scale. An assay is considered as a single unit of a platform to screen various compounds for aiding in drug discovery. Each assay is carried out in a 96-well plate, each of whose wells consists of the biological component called the Spheroids. The value of each assay lies in it facilitating for versatile screening applications. The spheroid is considered as a micro-structural product. And the addition of various compounds for testing is performed in each well (consisting of the spheroids). The focus has been to put forth the production principles and validation strategies to run the biological assay and test its efficacy to be used for screening in high volumes. The assay development illustrates processing and validation techniques. The goal is to develop optimized standards to process the assay, addressing various quality control issues, from the raw material to the end-product stage. Such an approach also brings interesting analogies of biological process in a manufacturing scenario. The developed system incorporates a value stream approach, by pulling the product from the customer end. The process involves simply encapsulating HUVECs (Human Umbelical Vein Endothelial cells) from the raw material stage, culturing to form the spheroid and transferring the component to assemblage in a 96-well format undergoing stages of heat treatments. The small scale screening system allows the use of small amounts of drug, which is especially essential for new drug synthesis or in rapid decision making to find out any unknown potent compounds. The design of optimal processes in product development of the spheroid assay is illustrated. Thus in light of the value of this assay, developing the production system has been pivotal so as to produce quality spheroids in the 96-well plate formats. The quantification of the stimulatory and inhibitory effects of the different agents is required to help understand the complex biological behavior involved. The goal is to validate the data using image analysis software. The image analysis helps determine the quantification to be accurate, objective, and consistent. The quality of the product is tested by the reproducibility and robustness of the assay.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The toxicity of platinum anticancer drugs presents a major obstacle in the effective treatment of tumours. Much of the toxicity stems from a lack of specificity of the drugs for the sites at which they are able to exert maximum anticancer activity. An improved understanding of the behaviour of the drugs in the tumour environment may assist in the rational design of future platinum anticancer agents with enhanced specificity and reduced toxicity. In the work presented herein, the specificity of two classes of platinum anticancer agents was assessed (platinum(IV) cisplatin analogues and platinum(II) anthraquinone complexes). The interaction of the platinum(IV) agents with DNA, believed to be their main cellular target, was examined using XANES spectroscopy. This experiment was designed to assess the ability of the drugs to interact with DNA and thus exert their anticancer activity. It was shown that the platinum(IV) complexes were not reduced by DNA during 48 hr incubation. It was not possible to conclusively determine whether the interaction of the complexes with DNA was direct or platinum(II) catalysed, or whether interaction had occurred at all. The distribution of platinum(II) anthraquinone complexes and their corresponding anthraquinone ligands in tumour cells (A2780 ovarian and DLD-1 colon cancer cell lines) was investigated. The cytotoxicity of the compounds in DLD-1 cells was also assessed. It was found that the compounds were efficiently taken up into the cells and entered the lysosomal compartments almost exclusively. This suggested that the cytotoxicity of the drugs was caused by lysosomal disruption, or that the platinum complexes were degraded, leaving a platinum species to enter the cell nuclei and interact with DNA. Alternatively, the complexes may bind to proteins and transport into the nuclei of the cells, though with their fluorescence quenched by the protein. The penetration and distribution of platinum(IV) complexes was assessed in DLD-1 multicellular tumour spheroids (established models of solid tumours) using a number of synchrotron techniques, including micro-tomography, micro-SRIXE, and micro-XANES. The complexes were found to be capable of penetrating throughout the entire volume of the spheroids. Micro-XANES indicated that in central and peripheral spheroidal regions, bound platinum species were present largely as platinum(II).

Tumour necrosis has long been associated with poor prognosis and reduced survival in cancer. Hypotheses to explain this include the idea that as aggressive tumours tend to grow rapidly, they outgrow their blood supply leading to areas of hypoxia and subsequently necrosis. However whilst this and similar hypotheses have been put forward to explain the association, the biological significance of the cells which make up necrotic tissue has been largely ignored. This stems from the belief that because a tumour is more aggressive and fast growing it develops areas of necrosis, rather than, the tumour is more aggressive because it contains areas of necrosis. Which came first like the egg and chicken is yet to be determined, however to date most research has only considered the possibility of the former. Viable cells were found in the necrotic core of Multicellular Tumour Spheroids. When examined these cells were found to be different to the original cell line in terms of proliferation, migration, and chemosensitivity. A proteomic analysis showed that these phenotypical changes were accompanied by changes in a large number of proteins within the cells, some of which could be potential therapeutic targets. Furthermore this has led to a new hypothesis for tumour necrosis and its association with poor prognosis. Necrotic tissue provides a microenvironemental niche for cells with increased survival capabilities. Protected from many chemotherapeutics by their non-proliferative status once conditions improve these cells can return to proliferation and repopulate the tumour with an increasingly aggressive population of cells. / Yorkshire Cancer Research

Tumour dissemination is a major reason for failure of therapy for many tumour types therefore there is a requirement for novel targets & therapies. The αIIbβ3 and αvβ3 integrins have been demonstrated to have significant involvement at many stages of the tumour dissemination process including, tumour cell adhesion, migration, metastasis and angiogenesis, and thus the β3 integrins are a potential target for therapeutic antagonism with small molecules. Because of the clear interaction between the different integrin types, targeting integrins as a therapeutic strategy requires targeting more than one integrin type. Consequently, the ICT is developing a group of novel new αIIbβ3 and αvβ3 integrin dual antagonists. One of the main challenges is having a relevant, validated experimental model that expresses these integrins. The aim of the work presented here is to develop and validate an in vitro αIIbβ3 and αvβ3 integrin expressing assay of tumour cell invasion. The spheroid invasion assay has the advantage over standard monolayer transwell chamber invasion assays of being a 3-dimensional assay, and thus mimics better the cell-cell interactions and architecture that are present in a tumour compared to the monolayer-based assay. A panel of human cancer cell lines known to express one of the molecular targets of interest, αvβ3 integrin was evaluated for the ability to form spheroids and to invade through collagen matrices. One glioma cell line, U87-MG, demonstrated consistent spheroid formation and invasion and was thus selected for further studies. Optimum conditions were established for use of U87-MG in the invasion assay, and the assay was validated using a known inhibitor of invasion, LiCl and known β3 antagonist, cRGDfV. Subsequently a group of novel small molecule β3 antagonists were evaluated at nontoxic concentrations using the assay. Both LiCl and cRGDfV inhibited spheroid invasion through the gel in a dose-dependent manner, thus validating the assay. Furthermore, when the novel small molecule β3 antagonists were evaluated using the model, a dose and time dependent reduction in U87-MG spheroids invasion in collagen was observed. In further work initial steps were taken to construct a cell line which expresses both αIIbβ3 and αvβ3 integrin to use in the model to assess for dual integrin antagonism. In conclusion, this work has established a validated assay which has been utilised for some compounds to evaluate a group of novel small molecule β3 integrin antagonists with encouraging results.

Cells in multicellular organisms are surrounded by a complex three-dimensional macromolecular extracellular matrix (ECM). This matrix, traditionally thought to uniquely serve a structural function providing support and strength to cells within tissues, is increasingly being recognized to have pleiotropic effects in neurogenesis and regeneration processes such as neocortex folding, stem cell niche maintenance, peripheral nerve regeneration, axonal growth, and many more. ECM mediates these processes via cell-ECM interactions which provide the cells with a wealth of signals including biophysical and mechanical cues in a spatiotemporal manner. Owing to the importance of the surrounding microenvironment, modern neural tissue engineering strategies have focused on the development of engineered biomaterials capable of finely instructing the neuronal response according to their physicochemical characteristics. Neurons and neural stem cells are in fact sensitive to their mechanical and topographical environment, and cell–substrate binding contributes to this sensitivity by activating specific signaling pathways for basic cell function. In addition, the advances in nanotechnology have opened the possibility of introducing decorative nano-motifs that interact with cells at the molecular level. Successful strategies in tissue engineering are driven by not only advances in the synthesis of highly instructive biomaterials but also greatly depend on the right selection of cell sources. As a matter of fact, advances in neural tissue engineering have been strongly hampered by the poor availability of cell sources, considering that primary neurons are the only type of cells that do not proliferate. The discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) has addressed many of the cell-related limitations in neural tissue engineering, offering the possibility to consistently produce a wide range of neural cell lines. Advances in cell biology have led to the development of iPSCs-derived brain spheroid, which surely represent the most promising tools for several neural tissue engineering applications ranging from in vitro modelling of neurodegenerative diseases (i.e., Parkinson's, Huntington's and Alzheimer's), biomaterials testing and drug screening platforms. The overarching goal of my doctoral work was to engineer biomaterials with instructive physicochemical properties to elicit beneficial cellular responses that are suitable for different neural tissue engineering applications such as nerve regeneration and 3D in vitro modelling. In the first study (Chapter 2), I evaluated the compounded effects of surface stiffness and micro-topography on dorsal root ganglion and human bone-marrow mesenchymal stem cells behavior. To this end, arrays of parallel microchannels of different geometries were introduced on the surface of chitosan films by electrophoretic replica deposition. In addition, a novel chemical crosslinking with citric acid was performed to both enhance the long-term stability of the chitosan films and fine-tune the surface stiffness for the investigation of its role in cell behavior. In the second study (Chapter 3), I developed a novel nanocomposite consisting of a collagen hydrogel decorated with glycine-derived carbon nanodots (Gly-CNDs). After a comprehensive physicochemical characterization of the resulting nanocomposite, I evaluated the effects exerted on neuronal differentiation and electrophysiological maturation of mouse iPSCs-derived brain spheroid. In the third study (Chapter 4), I optimized an alignable collagen-based hydrogel characterized by anisotropically oriented fibers with potential applications in both peripheral and central nervous system repair. I established a protocol that encompasses the introduction in the collagen solution of biodegradable laminin-functionalized magnetic microbeads and the time-controlled application of an external magnetic field. The regenerative potential of the hydrogel was unveiled using mouse iPSCs-derived neural stem cells.