Microgel microfluidic platform

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Project Description

Biopharmaceuticals such as peptides and proteins are pharmaceuticals often administrated through the subcutaneous route. However the bioavailability of different pharmaceuticals can vary greatly from approximately 10 to 90%. Therefore it is important to be able to predict the bioavailability early during the formulation development. There are today a lack of in vitro methods for prediction of bioavailability and instead animal studies are commonly used.

We are within this project developing an in vitro method for interaction studies between the constituents of the subcutaneous tissue and different pharmaceuticals. The methods aim is to help with the prediction of absorption into the blood or lymph from the subcutaneous tissue. It is a microfluidic based microscopy method where the subcutaneous polyelectrolytes such as Hyaluronic acid, Chondroitin sulfate and Collagen are cross-linked into spherical microgels. The microgels are placed in a microfluidic trap array and exposed to a drug solution. By measuring the volume change of the gels when exposed to the drug solution a relative interaction strength can be determined. The image analysis and size determination is performed with Fiji.