Artificial tissue bioreactor (ATB) for biological and imaging applications

Three-dimensional (3D) culture systems are increasingly applied to study tissue biology. In this work, we report on the development of an artificial tissue bioreactor (ATB) designed to simulate the 3D structure and microenvironment of tissues in vivo, with multiple avenues of sampling, including the tissue chamber, for downstream analysis. Additionally, the ATB is integrated with the microPET Focus F220 for in-vivo imaging applications. As a proof-of-concept, we characterized the effects of lipids on glucose utilization using HepG2 cells. ATB studies were performed pre- and post- therapeutic intervention with the PPAR-γ agonist pioglitazone. In parallel, Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) is performed on media samples to assess glucose uptake by cells as a measures of insulin signaling sensitivity. Fatty acid uptake in the ATB cell chamber is measured using [¹¹C]Palmitate with microPET imaging. Overall, the ATB will facilitate the use of existing and novel radiopharmaceuticals in discovery of validating and translating insights derived from ATB studies to pre-clinical animal studies, to clinical evaluation.