UPM-Biofore-Magazine-2-2017-ENG

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such as in GrowDex gel, for medicine testing, among other uses. We are also interested in the mutation of cancer cells,” explains Vilja Pietiäinen , who works as a senior researcher at FIMM. Pietiäinen is a member of a research group led by Professor Olli Kallioniemi . In recent years, personalisedmedicine has become a much-discussed topic, as it aims to advance health and treat diseases at the individual patient level. Additionally, FIMM researchers are trying to understand how cancer begins, the precise point of origin of a patient’s cancer, and how the cancer cells in this patient react to different medicines. “Each cancer is different and so is each patient,” explains Pietiäinen. “That is why personalisedmedicine is becoming so big around the world,” adds Lauri Paasonen , UPM’s product expert and researcher, who is collaborating with Pietiäinen at the Biomedicum centre in Meilahti, Helsinki. Spontaneous campus interaction The joint cancer research project between UPMand FIMMbegan when UPM established a new innovation department in the Biomedicum research and education centre in 2016. FIMMhad been working in these facilities even before then. “Our researchers were familiar with GrowDex and we had been keen to follow its development from early on.

When our own projects had evolved to a certain stage in which cell culture in three-dimensional models was becoming extremely interesting, it was the right time to begin this collaboration,” says Pietiäinen. The research is still in the early stages, but some discoveries have already been made. For example, individual cancer cells isolated frompatients are able to grow in the gel and form three-dimensional spheroid structures, i.e. nodular clusters. The next step for the research team is to find out howwell the cells cultured in the gel represent the original cancer tumour. Finally, tests are performed to find out whichmedicine kills the cancer cells. “We have great tools to carry out the research, and the groundwork has been going on for a long time. New technologies make this research possible and the clinic also plays a major role in our collaboration,” explains Pietiäinen. She adds that UPM’s Biomedicals team was ahead of its time: both personalised medicine and 3D cell culture have now become extremely relevant. “Major pharmaceutical companies are currently very interested in 3Dmedicine testing. Clearly, they have been waiting for someone to perform academic research in the field and develop newmethods. UPMentered the field with perfect timing as interest is clearly increasing day by day,” says Pietiäinen.

Grow Dex ®

• GrowDex is the first medical product to be launched by UPM's Biomedicals department. • The consistency of the cellulose- based hydrogel is similar to the conditions in a human body. That is why the gel can be used as a cell culture matrix. • GrowDex is unique in being 100 per cent plant origin. Researchers value the product’s consistency as well as its plant origin, which ensures even better results in an ethically sustainable way.

This is how researchers are using GrowDex

Culturing neuronal cells Dr Paul Roach, Loughborough University, UK

Dr Roach and his research team are developing multi-channel 3Dmicrofluidic chips, i.e. models that simulate the activities, mechanics, and physiological response of human tissues. When Dr Roach first heard of GrowDex, he was delighted to discover that it was a plant-derivedmaterial. “I wanted to see how it would work in our devices. My students soon reported that it was one of the best performing gels under study. The performance of GrowDex for replicating very fine micro-feature detail for the culture of neurons has been absolutely phenomenal. I have recommended it to my colleagues in other universities as well.”

Paul Roach

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