Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: A scalable tumor-vasculature-on-chip for CAR T cell trafficking and efficacy studies

doi: 10.64898/2026.02.05.703975

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) Schematic representation of the concept of immune checkpoint inhibition. Interaction between PD-1 and PD-L1 is blocked by Nivolumab which restores release of cytotoxic molecules by the CAR T cell (red) (B) Heatmap showing an overview of changes in tumor area and release of Granzyme B, IL-6, sPD-L1 and TNFα in HT-29-GFP and HCT116-GFP co-cultures in response to both single and combination treatments with Nivolumab, Ipilimumab and Temozolomide. Data used to generate the heatmap can be found in supplementary figures 7 and 8. (C,D) PCA plots showing response of HT-29-GFP and HCT116-GFP co-cultures to EpCAM-CD28 CAR T cells and treatments. (E) PCA plot showing the response of HT-29-GFP and HCT116-GFP co-cultures to combination treatments. Datapoints are scaled for the initial tumor cell density at the start of the co-culture. Pink circle indicates a small cluster of replicates consisting of HCT116-GFP cultures exposed to Nivolumab, Ipilimumab and Temozolomide. (F) Contribution and directionality of the different features of the principal components. (G) Heatmap showing morphometric parameters measured in the endothelial vessels of HT-29-GFP and HCT116-GFP co-cultures exposed to EpCAM-CD28 CART cells and treatments. Shown are fold changes against untreated controls. (H) Correlation distance matrix showing similarity between treatment responses based on patterns in relative change in tumor area, cytokine release and endothelial response. Data are presented as unsquared correlation distances, with values <1 indicating similarity in response while values >1 indicate distinct responses. A value of 1 means no relation between observed responses and a value of 0 indicates an identical response.

Article Snippet: Human colorectal cancer cell line HCT116-GFP (GeneCopoeia, SL024) was cultured in RPMI-1640 (Gibco, 11875093) supplemented with 10% Fetal Bovine Serum and 1 % Penicillin-Streptomycin.

Techniques: Inhibition, Co-Culture Assay

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: A scalable tumor-vasculature-on-chip for CAR T cell trafficking and efficacy studies

doi: 10.64898/2026.02.05.703975

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) HCT116-GFP tumor cells proliferate after introduction in the lumenised ECM and cause regression of the endothelial vessel over time. The fluorescent signal could be used to create a binary mask that was used to track growth of HCT116-GFP tumor cells from day 5 until day 8. Fluorescent area at each timepoint was normalized against the area at t=1 for each individual replicate (n=15). (B) Effect of treatments on HT-29-GFP tumor area. Data was normalized against the untreated control at each timepoint (n=8-16). (C) Effect of treatments on HCT116-GFP tumor area. Data was normalized against the untreated control at each timepoint (n=8-14). Data included in the graphs are presented as mean ± SD.

Article Snippet: Human colorectal cancer cell line HCT116-GFP (GeneCopoeia, SL024) was cultured in RPMI-1640 (Gibco, 11875093) supplemented with 10% Fetal Bovine Serum and 1 % Penicillin-Streptomycin.

Techniques: Control

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: A scalable tumor-vasculature-on-chip for CAR T cell trafficking and efficacy studies

doi: 10.64898/2026.02.05.703975

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) Analysis of cytokine levels (pg/mL) in media samples after 72 hours of co-culture of HT-29-GFP and HCT116-GFP tumor cells with EpCAM-CD28 CAR T cells. Co-cultures were untreated or exposed to Nivolumab, Ipilimumab and/or Temozolomide (n=8-14). (B) Cytokine levels in panel A were normalized against untreated controls per experiment resulting in fold changes that were used for principal component analysis (n=8-14). Data included in the graphs are presented as mean ± SD.

Article Snippet: Human colorectal cancer cell line HCT116-GFP (GeneCopoeia, SL024) was cultured in RPMI-1640 (Gibco, 11875093) supplemented with 10% Fetal Bovine Serum and 1 % Penicillin-Streptomycin.

Techniques: Co-Culture Assay

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: A scalable tumor-vasculature-on-chip for CAR T cell trafficking and efficacy studies

doi: 10.64898/2026.02.05.703975

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) Endothelial vessels were co-cultured with either HT-29-GFP or HCT116-GFP tumor cells and stained with VE-cadherin after the 72-hour co-culture. Co-cultures were either untreated or exposed to single or combination treatments with Nivolumab, Ipilimumab and Temozolomide in the presence of EpCAM-CD28 CAR T cells (E:T = 1:1). The endothelial response was assessed by analysis of VE-cadherin objects using a range of different morphological and spatial descriptors using IN Carta® (n=7-14) and normalization against respective untreated controls containing CAR T cells for each parameter. Data are presented as mean ± SD. (B) Heatmap showing change in morphometric parameters measured in endothelial vessels, co-cultured with either HT-29-GFP or HCT116-GFP tumor cells, upon addition of EpCAM-CD28 CAR T cells (E:T = 1:1). Data is presented as fold changes against respective controls without CAR T cells.

Article Snippet: Human colorectal cancer cell line HCT116-GFP (GeneCopoeia, SL024) was cultured in RPMI-1640 (Gibco, 11875093) supplemented with 10% Fetal Bovine Serum and 1 % Penicillin-Streptomycin.

Techniques: Cell Culture, Staining, Co-Culture Assay