Background:

Primary patient-derived multiple myeloma cells (MMC) are difficult to preserve . Long-term survival of osteoblasts, OSB, is the most critical factor in maintaining the ex vivo viability and proliferative capacity of MMC.  The adhesion and retention of MMC to the tissue scaffold was meditated by osteoblastic N-cadherin, as one of potential mechanisms that regulate MMC-OSB interactions. However, in the presence of MMC and patient plasma, the viability and osteogenic activity of OSB becomes gradually compromised, and consequently MMC cannot remain viable over 3 weeks.

Summary:

The described invention provides an ex vivo dynamic multiple myeloma (MM) cancer niche contained in a microfluidic device. The dynamic MM cancer niche includes (a) a three- dimensional tissue construct containing a dynamic ex vivo bone marrow (BM) niche, which contains a mineralized bone-like tissue containing viable osteoblasts self-organized into cohesive multiple cell layers and an extracellular matrix secreted by the viable adherent osteoblasts; and a microenvironment dynamically perfused by nutrients and dissolved gas molecules; and (b )human myeloma cells seeded from a biospecimen composition comprising mononuclear cells and the multiple myeloma cells. The human myeloma cells are in contact with osteoblasts of the BM niche, and the viability of the human myeloma cells is maintained by the MM cancer niche.

Full Patent: An ex vivo human multiple myeloma cancer niche and its use as a model for multiple myeloma

Image Source: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0125995