Artur Dybko

Warsaw University of Technology · Faculty of Chemistry

Recent advances in the development of microfluidic systems for the culture of complex and three-dimensional cell, tissue, and organ models allow their use in toxicity studies and mimicking many diseases. These types of in vitro models are important because of the huge advantages over standard two-dimensional cell cultures: better mimicking of in vi...

This work presents research on unique optofluidic systems in the form of air channels fabricated in PDMS and infiltrated with liquid crystalline material. The proposed LC:PDMS structures represent an innovative solution due to the use of microchannel electrodes filled with a liquid metal alloy. The latter allows for the easy and dynamic reconfigura...

Microchannels in LC:PDMS structures must be of good quality and suitable geometry to achieve the desired orientation of the liquid crystalline molecules inside. When applying a casting technique, with the molds obtained even by the most accurate method, i.e., photolithography, it is still crucial to inspect the cross-section of the structure and th...

A broad family of two-dimensional (2D) materials - carbides, nitrides, and carbonitrides of early transition metals, called MXenes, became a newcomer in the flatland at the turn of 2010 and 2011 (over ten years ago). Their unique physicochemical properties made them attractive for many applications, highly boosting the development of various fields...

The unique components of PDMS-based microfluidic systems are those combined with liquid crystalline materials. Their functionality, especially when it comes to optical applications, highly depends on the LC molecular arrangement. This work summarizes experimental investigations on the orientation of molecules within LC:PDMS structures according to...

In this article, we present electrode modules, that can be used for electroporation of cells growing at 96-well plate surface. The electrode modules are made of gold, which is non-toxic and has very good conductive properties. In addition, the proposed geometries allow for high electroporation efficiency with maintaining high cell viability. As a p...

Introduction This presentation will focus on the lab-on-a-chip microsystems for different applications, ranging from cytotoxicity tests to the evaluation of the effectiveness of selected anticancer therapies. When in vitro tests are performed with the use of microsystems, manual activities that are required when seeding cells or administering solut...

Introduction Lab-on-a-Chip systems are innovative tools which can be used in the field of life sciences. They find applications e.g. in single cell analysis or cytotoxicity tests [1]. Despite the growing popularity of the use of microsystems in biological research, there is a lack of microsystems that may be used in the electrochemotherapy (ECT) st...

Introduction Nanomaterials due to their physicochemical properties arouse interest of researchers representing various fields of science, including chemical, biological and clinical analysis. Research in these areas has led to a foundation of nanomedicine, in case of which, both diagnosis and therapy of various diseases are based on nanoparticles (...

Introduction Lab-on-a-Chip systems are innovative tools which can be used in the field of life sciences. They find applications e.g. in single cell analysis or cytotoxicity tests [1]. Despite the growing popularity of the use of microsystems in biological research, there is a lack of microsystems that may be used in the electrochemotherapy (ECT) st...

In this letter the possibility of low-cost fabrication of molds for PDMS-based photonic microstructures is considered. For this purpose, three different commercially available techniques, namely UV-curing of the capillary film, 3D SLA printing and micromilling, have been analyzed. Obtained results have been compared in terms of prototyping time, qu...

A new nanogel / drug carrier of 100 - 150 nm size, based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-sodium acrylate) and degradable crosslinker (cystine derivative), was synthesized. Using the electrostatic interactions between the carboxylic groups in the polymer network and the protonated amine groups of doxorubicin it was possible to load the drug into th...

The past few years have seen significant developments in the chemistry and potential biological applications of 2D materials. This review focuses on recent advances in the biotechnological and biomedical applications of MXenes, which are 2D carbides, nitrides, and carbonitrides of transition metals. Nanomaterials based on MXenes can be used as ther...

Magnetoliposomes are promising candidates for the development of selective drug delivery systems in the treatment of cancer. Those nanosystems were tested as carriers of a strong chemotherapeutic agent, doxorubicin, which is used against breast cancer. Herein, the magnetic properties of hydrophobic iron oxide nanoparticles located exclusively in th...

Photothermal therapy (PTT) has shown significant potential for anti-cancer modality. In this report, according to our best knowledge, we explore for the first time Ti2C-based MXene as a novel, highly efficient and selective agent for photothermal therapy (PTT). Ti2C superficially modified with PEG was obtained from the layered, commercially availab...

It is a free link to the article: https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1YIEK3J7McVaDs In this work core/shell cadmium-free zinc‑copper‑indium sulfide ZnCuInS/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) originally stabilized with hydrophilic alkanethiol were modified with 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) or 6-mercaptohexanoic acid (MHA) via two-step ligand exchange method. The...

The oil core nanocapsules platform holds great potential to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of anticancer therapies. In this work, we describe the preparation of well-defined multilayer oil core nanocapsules built of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes via a layer-by layer (LbL) assembly strategy and their use as advanced drug delivery systems...

Herein, we present the research focused on the synthesis and application of aptamer-modified gold nanoshells for photothermal therapy (PTT). NIR-absorbing hollow gold nanoshells were synthetized and conjugated with anti-MUC1 aptamer ([email protected]−MUC1). MUC1 (Mucin 1) is a transmembrane glycoprotein, which is overexpressed in a variety of epit...

Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) is a material applicable for tissue and biomedical engineering, especially based on microfluidic devices. PDMS is a material used in studies aimed at understanding cell behavior and analyzing the cell adhesion mechanism. In this work, biological characterization of the modified PDMS surfaces based on cell attachment an...

Microfluidic technology has a great application potential in many fields of science such as analytical chemistry, molecular biology, or biotechnology. The microfluidic systems are also widely used for cell engineering. The microsystems have several advantages comparing with the traditional analysis, such as: using small volumes of reagents, low pow...

The main advantage of the microsystems is their ability to imitate in vivo conditions which are missing in macroscale cell cultures. The materials which find applications in Lab-on-a-chip devices for cellomics, their properties, and microfabrication techniques are presented in this chapter. Such microfluidic devices are useful tools in many fields...

The purpose of this paper is to present a fully integrated microchip for the evaluation of PDT procedures efficiency on 3D lung spheroid cultures. Human lung carcinoma A549 and non-malignant MRC-5 spheroids were utilized as culture models. Spheroid viability was evaluated 24 h after PDT treatment, in which 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) had been used...

Lab-on-a-chip systems are increasingly used as tools for cultures and investigation of cardiac cells. In this article, we present how the geometry of microsystems and microenvironmental conditions (static and perfusion) influence the proliferation, morphology, and alignment of cardiac cells (rat cardiomyoblasts-H9C2). Additionally, studies of cell...

In this paper, we present a culture of A549 and MRC-5 spheroids in a microfluidic system. The aim of our work was to develop a good lung cancer model for the evaluation of drug cytotoxicity. Our research was focused on determining the progress of cell aggregation depending on such factors as the depth of culture microwells in the microdevices, a di...

Cell-on-a-chip systems have become promising devices to study the effectiveness of new anticancer drugs recently. Several microdevices for liver cancer culture and evaluation of the drug cytotoxicity have been reported. However, there are still no proven reports about high-throughput and simple methods for the evaluation of drug cytotoxicity on liv...

In this paper we present A549 (carcinoma) and MRC-5 (non-malignant) long-term (10 days) spheroids culture in a microfluidic system. Moreover, the evaluation of photodynamic therapy (PDT) procedure with 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) on 3D A549 and MRC-5 spheroids culture was performed. It was found that the spheroids are more resistant for ALA/PDT tha...

Rozwój metod przekazu informacji w połączeniu z postępem technologicznym dokonują fundamentalnych i nieodwracalnych zmian w metrologii. Zmiany te mają dwojaki charakter: obserwuje się ewolucję metod pomiarowych i sposobu realizacji procesów pomiarowych, oraz dokonują się bardzo znaczące zmiany w sferze aparaturowej. Widocznym efektem tych zmian, ob...

Many types of nanoparticles (NPS) are tested for use in cancer therapy. In recent years also graphene and graphene-based nanomaterials due to their unique physical, chemical and mechanical properties, have become an attractive nanoparticles in cancer therapy. Graphene based nanomaterials as an anticancer therapeutics can be applied in photothermal...

A new-generation of nanoencapsulated photosensitizers could be a good solution to perform effective photodynamic therapy (PDT). In this paper, we present physicochemical characterization and cellular investigation of newly prepared long-sustained release oil-core polyelectrolyte nanocarriers loaded with verteporfin (nano VP) in relation to free VP....

The application of nanotechnology is important to improve research and development of alternative anticancer therapies. In order to accelerate research related to cancer diagnosis and to improve the effectiveness of cancer treatment, various nanomaterials are being tested. The main objective of this work was basic research focused on examination of...

Optical properties 5CB liquid crystal (LC) cells and 5CB infiltrated microstructured optical fibers doped with 1 wt.% titanium nanoparticles (NPs) of the size ~100nm, have been studied. NPs were found to modify properties of both LC cells and LC-infiltrated fibers. Preliminary thermo-optic properties of photonic liquid crystal fiber with Ti-doped 5...

Poly(dimethylsiloxane) - PDMS is a very popular material used for fabrication of Lab-on-a-chip systems for biological applications. Although PDMS has numerous advantages, it is a highly hydrophobic material, which inhibits adhesion and proliferation of the cells. PDMS surface modifications are used to enrich growth of the cells. However, due to the...

NOVELTY - A microsystem comprises three tiles such as upper plate, central panel and lower plate, microstructures for placing cells, central shallow polymer having membrane with holes form a matrix and lower plate of polymer, polymer nanofibers, and two tiles polymer matrix forming polymer and three tiles, where the three tiles are disposed inside...

The paper presents the evaluation of photodynamic therapy (PDT) procedures with an application of a microsystem. Two cell lines were used in the experiments, i.e. human lung carcinoma-A549 and normal human fetal lung fibroblast MRC5. Mono-, coculture and mixed cultures were performed in a microsystem at the same time. The microsystem consisted of a...

This paper presents a possibility of use of hydrogel in microfluidic system, which can be a promising tool for threedimensional cell culture. In the research the commercially available self-assembling peptide hydrogel Puramatrix was used. Gelation of this hydrogel is initiated by the contact with culture medium. That’s why it is critical that no sa...

Selectively filled photonic crystal fibers with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a silicon- type material, have been studied. Is has been demonstrated that polarization properties of these hybrid devices and the properties of the guided light in relation with the temperature changes, finding that the state of polarization (SOP) change with the increa...

Interest in the microfluidic environment, owing to its unique physical properties, is increasing in much innovative chemical, biological, or medicinal research. The possibility of exploiting and using new phenomena makes the microscale a powerful tool to improve currently used macroscopic methods and approaches. Previously, we reported that an incr...

We have investigated the response of normal and cancer cells to exposure a combination of celecoxib (Celbx) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) using a lab-on-a-chip microfluidic device. Specifically, we have tested the cytotoxic effect of Celbx on normal mouse embryo cells (Balb/c 3T3) and human lung carcinoma cells (A549). The single drugs or their combina...

This paper describes a new contactless conductivity detector, whose electrodes are constructed of microchannels filled with solution of KCl - called pseudoelectrodes. The lab-on-a-chip microdevice was fabricated in poly(dimethylsiloxane) PDMS, using a moulding technique. The mould was made from a dry negative photoresist with a thickness of 50 μm....

In this paper, a new construction of a contactless conductivity detector based on true three dimensional arrangement of the electrodes is presented. In the presented microsystem, the microchannels filled with an eutectic solution (Gallium-Indium, Aldrich) serve as the electrodes (called pseudoelectrodes). The detector is made in PMMA using micromil...

In this paper, we present the evaluation of PDT procedures in the microsystem, in which three kinds of cell cultures (mono-, coculture and mixed culture) were performed, simultaneously. In contrast to our earlier work the geometry of the microsystem was improved: three pairs of additional microchambers for monoculture of cells were added and the mi...

Cell migration is an important physiological process, which is involved in cancer metastasis. Therefore, the investigation of cell migration may lead to the development of novel therapeutic approaches. In this study, we have successfully developed a microsystem for culture of two cell types (non-malignant and carcinoma) and for analysis of cell mig...

One of the major advantage of microfluidic systems is a possibility of precise control over fluid flow. However, this can be significantly disturbed by air bubbles penetrating microchannels. Many efforts are taken to improve tubing connections and tightness of experimental set-ups. However, application of gas permeable materials, such as PDMS, whic...

Development of novel cellular models that can replace animals in preclinical trials of drug candidates is one of the major goals of cell engineering. Current in vitro screening methods hardly correspond with the in vivo situation, whereas there is lack of assays for more accurate cell culture models. Therefore, development of automated assays for 3...

a b s t r a c t In this paper, we present a low-cost three-dimensional microfluidic system made of poly(dimethylsiloxane) for tumor spheroid formation and cultivation. Tumor spheroids reaching diameters of up to 300 m were cultured in perfusion microchambers providing extremely low shear stress. Spheroids were cultured for 15 days and high viabilit...

In this work, we present a microfluidic array of microwells for long-term tumor spheroid cultivation and anticancer drug activity evaluation. The three-dimensional microfluidic system was obtained by double casting of poly(dimethylsiloxane). Spheroids of HT-29 human carcinoma cells were cultured in the microsystem for four weeks. After two weeks of...

In the work discussed in this paper, the effect of a high surface-to-volume ratio of a microfluidic detection cell on fluorescence quenching was studied. It was found that modification of the geometry of a microchannel can provide a wider linear range. This is a phenomenon which should be taken into consideration when microfluidic systems with fluo...

In this paper, we describe the evaluation of PDT procedures performed in a newly designed microsystem in which migration and interaction between normal and carcinoma cells are possible. The geometry of the microsystem contains two microstructure with a network of microchannels and five pair of culture microchambers. Each pair is connected with an a...

This study reports on the use of a microsystem for evaluation of photodynamic therapy (PDT) procedures on the "mixed" (carcinoma-normal) cultures. Balb/3T3 (normal mouse embryo) and A549 (human lung carcinoma) cells were tested in separated and "mixed" cultures. Interactions and migration of cells cultured together were observed. The PDT procedures...

This paper describes a novel method of poly(dimethylsiloxane) double casting utilizing surface modification by thermal aging. The composition of the polymer was optimized and the conditions of thermal aging were set to achieve correct replica-tion of over 98% of microstructures. The microfluidic device fabricated using developed technique was succe...

This paper describes an integrated microfluidic system for intracellular components analysis. The polymeric microdevice consists of a zone for hydrodynamic focusing of cell suspension, a mixing microchannel, and an optical detection module. In this work the system was used to determine the activity of α-galactosidase A (an enzyme deficient in Fabry...

In this paper, a microfluidic system for long-term multicellular tumor spheroids culture and analysis is presented. Human car-cinoma cells were cultured in an array of microwells for four weeks and a slowdown of the proliferation with maintained viability was observed. The construction of the device enabled observation of decreasing spheroid diamet...

We have investigated the kinetics of α-galactosidase A and β-glucocerebrosidase deficient in Fabry and Gaucher diseases, respectively. We have performed spectrofluorymetric measurements of the activity of enzymes using a derivative of 4-methylumbelliferone as a substrate and a human T-cell line as a source of enzymes. We have observed the substrate...

An integrated microfluidic system that coupled lysis of two cell lines: L929 fibroblasts and A549 epithelial cells, with fluorescence-based enzyme assay was developed to determine β-glucocerebrosidase activity. The microdevice fabricated in poly(dimethylsiloxane) consists of three main parts: a chemical cell lysis zone based on the sheath flow geom...

A hybrid PDMS/glass microfluidic system for evaluation of the efficiency of photodynamic therapy is presented. 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) was used as a precursor of photosensitizer. The geometry of the microdevice presented in this paper enables to test different concentrations of the photosensitizer in a single assay. The viability of the A549 ce...

One of the main scopes of modern cell engineering is development of cellular models that can replace animals in drug screening and toxicological tests, so called alternative methods. Construction of the alternative model is avery challenging task due to arichness of factors creating the in vivo environment. Th e monolayer cell culture — cultivation...

Microfl uidic devices, such as lab-on-a-chip systems, are highly advantageous for cell engineering and cell based assays. It is aparticularly useful approach for development of the in vitro cellular systems mimicking the in vivo environment. In this paper, anovel lab-on-a-chip device for three-dimensional human cell culture and anticancer drug test...

In this paper, a microfluidic system for long-term multicellular tumor spheroids culture and analysis is presented. Human carcinoma cells were cultured in an array of microwells for four weeks and a slowdown of the proliferation with maintained viability was observed. The construction of the device enabled observation of decreasing spheroid diamete...

In this paper, we describe the evaluation of photodynamic (PDT) procedures performed in the microsystem. The toxic effect of PDT was tested on Balb/3T3 (normal) and A549 (carcinoma) cells in separate and "mixed" cultures. 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) was used as a precursor of a photosensitizer. The geometry of the microsystem contains cell culture...

In this paper, we present cytotoxicity tests performed in a microanalytical hybrid system. The microchambers of cell culture were integrated with a concentration gradient generator (CGG), which created five different concentrations of evaluated agent in a single step. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is one of the most important chemotherapeutic agents for ca...

This paper presents a highly efficient passive micromixer with a three-dimensional topography of microchannel that employs diffusion for mixing. The microchannels were created in PMMA plates by mechanical milling with a high frequency spindle. The PMMA plates with microchannels were thermally bonded to form sealed 3D micromixer structure. The devel...

A new technology of the microsystems fabrication was developed. The process is based on a so-called capillary film, which is a commercially available material. A matrix, master pattern corresponding to the microchannels structure, made of the capillary film emulsion is embedded inside a block of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). After polymer cross-link...

The paper presents a construction of a system for measurements of pH, concentration of calcium ions and concentration of heavy metal ions in water. Three fiber optic sensors in flow configuration were designed and tested. The system is fully automatic and can be used for water quality monitoring. 1. INRODUCTION Physical and chemical parameters have...

The paper presents a construction of a system for measurements of pH, concentration of calcium ions and concentration of heavy metal ions in water. Three fiber optic sensors in flow configuration were designed and tested. The system is fully automatic and can be used for water quality monitoring.

The paper describes an application of a new architecture of versatile miniaturized system with dual optical detection. The microsystem was designed especially for measurement of uric acid concentration in biological samples with the use of different optical detection methods: spectrophotometric and fluorescence as well. Its construction is based on...