PFI-TT: Validation of a Modular Osteoarthritis Disease Model System for Early Stage Pharmaceutical Drug Screening

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project lies in its innovative strategy to tackle osteoarthritis (OA), a widespread, disabling condition affecting over 32.5 million US adults. The project introduces a 'joint-on-a-chip' system, a novel model for early-stage drug testing, potentially revolutionizing our understanding of OA and enabling the development of transformative treatments.

This initiative also boasts educational merits, providing graduate students with entrepreneurial skills and offering research opportunities to undergraduates from tribal colleges, thereby creating an interface between academia and industry. The project's commercial potential is poised to invigorate the burgeoning global market for microphysiological systems (MPSs).

These systems allow for improved human disease modeling, reducing dependence on animal studies in pharmaceutical research, and opening doors to pioneering pharmaceutical treatments for difficult to cure diseases like OA.

The proposed project focuses on the development of a unique joint-on-a-chip MPS platform. MPSs have gained attention as potential tools to decrease drug development costs and minimize reliance on animal models. The project aims to establish a system that uses cell culture scaffolds with biomimetic microscale and nanoscale biophysical cues to model the multi-tissue structure of human articular joints.

The innovative approach taken in this project enhances the recapitulation of human cellular behavior within the MPS. The goal is to establish an in vitro system capable of efficiently characterizing joint health in response to investigational drugs. Additionally, the project seeks to validate the effectiveness of the MPS in modeling osteoarthritis as a disease of the joint, thus facilitating early preclinical pharmaceutical drug development research.

By leveraging this cutting-edge technology, the project endeavors to advance the MPS field and contribute to the refinement of drug development processes.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.