Project leaders
Vincent HAGUET, Patricia OBEÏD and Karine RAYMOND​
Laboratory Biosciences and bioengineering for Health
Biomics Team
17 avenue des Martyrs
38 054 Grenoble cedex 9, France
Vincent HAGUET, Phone +33 (0)4 38 78 23 86
Patricia OBEÏD, Phone +33 (0)4 38 78 47 12
Choayb OMAR, Phone +33 (0)4 38 78 23 86
Ha-Anh TRAN, Phone +33 (0)4 38 78 25 89
Karine RAYMOND

​ ​

We are developing an organ-on-a-chip device to model the chemoattraction of neural progenitors by a tumor. It was recently demonstrated in prostate tumor-bearing mice that doublecortin-positive (DCX⁺) neural progenitors from the subventricular zone of the mouse brain can cross the blood-brain barrier and migrate into the bloodstream to the tumor. The DCX⁺ neural progenitors then infiltrate the tumor and differentiate into adrenergic neurons. The adrenaline secreted by these neurons subsequently appears to promote tumor progression and metastatic spread.

We aim to reproduce and characterize the key steps of tumor-induced neurogenesis in a microfluidic chip (developed in collaboration with CEA-LETI) and an instrument dedicated to chemoattraction monitoring to overcome the low number of DCX⁺ available. Our in vitro system will put DCX⁺ neural progenitors in the presence of organoids and tumoroids modeling physiological and tumor conditions of pancreas and prostate, respectively. The organ-on-a-chip system should allow continuous recording and quantification of DCX⁺ neural progenitor migrations to 3D cell cultures. Our study also seeks to obtain a better understanding of the interactions between progenitors and pancreatic and prostate tumors during the processes of neural infiltration and differentiation.


Collaborators

• Claire Magnon, Jacob Institute, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
• Frédéric Bottausci and Remco Den Dulk, CEA-LETI, Grenoble, France


References
Magnon Science 2013; Mauffrey Nature 2019; Monje Cell 2020.