Described herein are decellularized extracellular matrix for mechanically supporting engineered vascular grafts. Methods are provided for fabricating all-natural, non-immunogenic, strong products that do not rely on common plastic supports. Also provided are bench-top models of atherosclerosis. Embodiments provide completely inclusive models that contain all steps of atherosclerosis, including late-stage disease processes. Example models utilize tissue engineered blood vessels (TEBV); stages of atherosclerosis are induced for instance by application of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDLs) (early-stage), followed by macrophage introduction (early-stage), and induction of calcification using calcified protein particles (CPPs; late-stage). Also provided are kits useful to investigate disease processes and better patient treatment options, including new drug development.

The present invention relates to a microfluidic device (1), preferably for producing a three-dimensional cell culture, having at least one chamber (2), and a fluid channel (3) which flows through at least part of the chamber (2) in order to provide a fluid stream which flows through the chamber (2) preferably continuously, wherein the chamber (2) is connected to a loading opening (4) and via the loading opening (4) can be loaded with hydrogel up to a desired fill level, characterized in that the chamber (2) comprises a main chamber (5) and a secondary chamber (6) connected to the main chamber (5), wherein, when the chamber (2) is being loaded with hydrogel up to the desired fill level, the secondary chamber is at least partially filled with hydrogel backed up from the main chamber (5).

Provided herein are methods for culturing patient-derived tumor cell spheroids in a three-dimensional microfluidic device. The method comprises mincing primary tumor sample in a medium supplemented with serum; treating the minced primary tumor sample with a composition comprising an enzyme; collecting tumor spheroids having a diameter of 10 μm to 500 μm from the enzyme treated sample; suspending the tumor spheroids in biocompatible gel; and culturing the tumor spheroids in a three dimensional microfluidic device. Methods for identifying an agent for treating cancer and microfluidic devices that allow for the simultaneous exposure of the cultured patient-derived primary tumor cell spheroids to a treatment of choice and to control treatment are also provided.

This disclosure relates to methods for screening therapeutic agents to treat altered function of a mutated target gene (e.g., clinical variant) as well as reagents for use in the same.

Certain embodiments of the invention provide EphA4 targeting compounds and compositions comprising a compound described herein. Certain embodiments of the invention also provide methods of treating a neurological disease (e.g., Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Alzheimer's Disease) or cancer.

A method of producing an organoid derived from a lung epithelial cell or a lung cancer cell, comprising culturing a sample including the lung epithelial cell or the lung cancer cell in a culture medium, wherein the culture medium contains 0-10% (v/v) extracellular matrix, and a combination of at least one selected from the group consisting of keratinocyte growth factor (KGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 10, and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF); bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) inhibitor; and TGFβ inhibitor, and the culture medium is substantially free of feeder cells.

A sphere-like cell aggregate according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: a core part containing neural retina; and a covering part continuously or discontinuously covering at least a portion of a surface of the core part.

The present disclosure relates to a blood staining patch, a method and device for a blood test using the same, and more particularly, to a patch configured to contain a staining reagent for staining blood and a method and device for economically testing blood using the same. A blood testing method according to an aspect of the present disclosure, which is a blood testing method in which a patch, which includes a mesh structure forming micro-cavities and is configured to contain a staining reagent for staining staining targets present in blood in the micro-cavities, is used to perform a blood test through staining of the staining target, includes placing blood in a reaction region, and providing the staining reagent to the reaction region using the patch configured to contain the staining reagent.

An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure provides a 3D structure comprising a tissue layer having a first surface defining an interior chamber and an opposing second surface supporting a first plurality of cells outwardly positioned from the interior chamber, wherein the interior chamber comprises an extracellular matrix mixture. The present disclosure also provides a method of making a 3D structure, the method comprising mixing an extracellular matrix mixture at a first temperature with a culture medium at a second temperature, the second temperature greater than the first temperature, culturing a first plurality of cells in the extracellular matrix mixture and culture medium, and forming a 3D structure having an interior chamber enclosed by the first plurality of cells configured to interface with an environment external to the 3D structure.

The present subject matter relates to a non-invasive optical imaging method for monitoring early pathological events specific to Alzheimer's disease (AD), such as the development, amount and location of amyloid plaques. The ability to monitor such events provides a basis for, among other things, AD diagnosis, prognosis and assessment of potential therapies. In addition, the present subject matter introduces novel methods for treating AD and retinal ailments associated with AD. Aβ-plaque detection in living brains is extremely limited, especially at high resolution; therefore the present invention is based on studies focusing on the eyes as an alternative to brain-derived tissue that can be imaged directly, repetitively and non-invasively.