Bologna (Italy), September …, 2009 – COCHISE, an international project aiming at the development of a new class of biosensors able to detect single cell-to-cell interactions for the improvement of tumour therapy, ended with the achievement of a second important result. In fact, besides the development of a biosensor¹ prototype - achieved in June 2008 - a new biological model to study tumour growth has been just setup that will allow the identification and setup of analytical procedures to study the biological activity of single cells isolated in the biosensor.
COCHISE results
The project started in June 2006 and lasted 3 years. The first reached milestone consists in the availability of a prototype of the biosensor (Fig. 1) that has been used to demonstrate the capability of controlling cells and particles and trapping them in an open microwell² (Fig. 2). The second achieved goal is the identification and setup of analytical procedures to study the biological activity of single cells isolated in the biosensor. Finally, the third result consists in the development of a new biological model of tumour growth where a cell subpopulation, able to interfere with tumour growth, has been characterized. The identification of such cell subset will provide a fundamental tool to verify the selectivity of action of the biosensor and the feasibility of the peculiar biological approach linked to the utilization of the biosensor.
Additionally a Lab-On-Substrate technology³ platform based on standard PCB technology? has been developed for cost-effective fabrication of the biosensor described above which allows the handling and detection of single cells. Materials used have been tested on their biocompatibility for the proposed applications (Fig. 3).
The biological results obtained within COCHISE research will be presented at the 14th World Congress on Advances in Oncology and at the 12th International Symposium on Molecular Medicine both of which will take place in Greece next October.
Furthermore, the interesting results achieved in COCHISE project will allow the submission of a new financing request in order to complete the project within the 7th Framework Program sponsored by EU to foster research in Europe in the period 2007-2013.
“The results achieved by COCHISE project” - points out Roberto Guerrieri, Professor of Electronics at the Faculty of Engineering of Bologna University and coordinator of the project - “represent an important step towards the development and setup of an innovative tool, which in the future will lead to diagnostic and therapeutic advances in the field of oncology.”
An alternative biological approach
Biological therapy is relatively new in oncology. Patients are given various natural substances such as interferon, interleukin 2, or various types of colony-stimulating factors, all of which enhance the body’s own defences. The aim is to stimulate the immune system to fight the cancer. Unfortunately, these substances are not always well tolerated by the body.
An alternative approach consists in the identification of the immune cells that have the capability to fight the tumour, followed by their in vitro amplification and reinjection into the body. One of the problems in this approach is the identification and isolation of the small number of cells which are specifically able to recognize and fight the tumour cells.
The COCHISE project
COCHISE (Cell-On-CHIp bioSEnsor for detection of cell-to-cell interactions) is a EU-funded project whose aim is the development of a novel class of biocompatible biosensors able to detect single cell-to-cell interactions. The project has been carried out by organizations from different European countries (Italy, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands). It has been coordinated by Prof. Roberto Guerrieri, professor of Electronics at the Faculty of Engineering of Bologna University (Italy).
The development of a new class of biosensors will provide a tool for the analysis of the interaction between single immune cells and single tumour cells. In fact, several promising technologies for cancer immunotherapy are currently limited by the lack of data about the interactions established between biologically active cells at the single cell level, information that is currently unavailable or difficult to achieve with the existing technology. In addition, this information should be available in a cost effective way, quickly, and in a simple laboratory infrastructure.
The COCHISE partners
The COCHISE project has been carried out by a Consortium team where competences can be found ranging from electronic design and manufacturing to bioengineering and tumor immunology. The participant list includes:
• University of Bologna (Italy) is the project coordinator and its role has consisted mainly in the design and testing of the biosensor thanks to its strong competence in microelectronics and circuit design
• Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration (IZM) is a German research centre that provides excellent facilities for micro- and nano-integration using the most advanced interconnection and assembly technologies
• Micronit is a Dutch company which develops and delivers microfluidic systems with integrated electrodes that is involved in packaging and demonstration of the biosensor
• University of Ferrara (Italy) provided strategic knowledge in the lab-on-a-chip application to biotechnology
• Institute of Cellular Pathology of the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium) provided its expertise in tumour immunology and immunotherapy of tumours. The institute set up of quantitative PCR techniques for analysis of single cells• Angelini is an Italian pharmaceutical company with a large experience in the development of new drugs; in its research facilities, near Rome, the in-vivo tumour models has been set up for biological validation of the biosensor
• Biochips Laboratory of the Commissariat a l’Energie Atomique (France) is a research centre with a deep background in developing microsystem and liquid handling solutions in the field of biochip technology
• MindSeeds Labs is a start-up Italian company working in the field of biomedical devices with expertise in the design of impedance-based sensors.
FIGURE LEGEND
• Fig. 1 Shows the cross section of an open microwell inside the biosensor
• Fig. 2 Shows two beads trapped in a microwell
• Fig. 3 Shows a demonstrator realized in the project mounted on a carrier which provides electrical and fluidic connections to sensing microwell array
