STTR Phase II: High throughput aligned nanofiber multiwell plates for glioblastoma research

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase II project seeks to address the unmet need for high-throughput, cost effective tools to model the metastasis of brain cancer cells. The proposed Phase II work will achieve three key objectives necessary for broad adoption: 1) eliminating the use of adhesive during multiwell plate production, 2) implement FDA-approved sterilization procedures utilizing the Sterigenics gamma radiation facility, and 3) additional biological data providing both a head-to-head comparison of our products to those already on the market while also creating a market "pull" for the pharmaceutical application of this technology in clinical treatments of brain cancer. A supply of high-throughput cell culture migration assays will allow researchers to understand and treat cancer metastasis in ways never before possible. It is anticipated that a result of this project will be faster and more effective drug developments to treat brain cancer and other metastasizing cancers. Extension of this technology to other types of cancer and areas of tissue engineering is anticipated once production conditions are fully established. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is that it will provide improved, more accurate models of glioma migration having better predictive power and higher translational potential. Current surgical procedures for malignant brain tumors cannot remove all of the cells associated with the primary tumor and these cancer cells migrate into the surrounding tissue where they evade both detection and current chemotherapies, leading to secondary tumor formation and nearly 100% patient mortality. A multi-well plate in vitro migration assays will enable pharmaceutical research identifying key factors regulating glioma cell migration, potentially helping devise a broad range of effective therapies and drugs against these devastating tumors. If this initial form of high-throughput motility assay is successful, it will provide an innovative tool appropriate for researchers from a large variety of backgrounds beyond both glioma treatments and cancer. Additionally, strong commercial potential exists as the cell/tissue culture supplies market is expected to reach $4.97 billion globally by 2012; this market includes the proposed consumable research tool.