Project Overview

As cancer chemotherapy treatments become more sophisticated, there has been an associated increase in patient survival time. As a result, the severity of long-term side effects of chemotherapy has become apparent. Oftentimes female patients lose their reproductive capabilities as a consequence of having cancer or from undergoing cancer chemotherapy. Research has shown that doxorubicin (DXR) chemotherapy causes ovarian insult, ultimately leading to ovarian failure. Currently, no systems exist to culture and grow adult ovaries in vitro to test chemotherapy toxicity and protection from toxic agents. This situation greatly limits ovarian research. A system to test the effects of the chemotherapy agent DXR on the ovaries and the effectiveness of DXR protecting agents needs to be developed. This project will establish a novel in vitro ovary culture system to maintain cell viability in order to facilitate assessment of chemotherapy toxicity and DXR protecting agents. The device will utilize ovarian vasculature, providing the ovary with necessary nutrition in a physiologically accurate manner to prevent necrosis. The fluid flow rates and pressure of the infusion lines will need to be monitored digitally and easily adjusted to achieve physiological conditions and ensure ovarian health. The ovary scaffold will be contained within a sealed environment capable of maintaining internal sterility and tissue viability. Previous work has yielded a prototype bioreactor to be tested. This semester's work will focus on modifications to the previous prototype, integrating the device with bovine ovaries, and determining optimal harvesting procedures, flow rate, and culture environment for bovine ovaries.

Team Picture

Contact Information

Team Members

• Matthew Zanotelli - Team Leader
• Patrick Hopkins - Communicator
• Joseph Henningsen - BSAC & BPAG
• Aaron Dederich - BWIG

Advisor and Client

• Prof. Tracy Jane Puccinelli - Advisor
• Dr. Sana Salih - Client

Related Projects

• Spring 2014: Novel in vitro model to grow and culture the ovaries outside the body
• Fall 2013: Novel in vitro model to grow and culture the ovaries outside the body
• Spring 2013: Novel in vitro model to grow and culture the ovaries outside the body