Screening of Active Ingredients for Skin Care in a Microfluidic Skin Organoid Platform

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Development of formulations for skin care products is a labor- and cost-intensive task, largely due to a large number of active ingredients (AIs) and their combinations that have to be tested on skin tissue to make a high-performance product. This time-consuming multistep process begins from the identification of a promising AI candidate and continues to optimization of a multicomponent formulation using animal models. Experiments on animal models are expensive, time-consuming, and require special skills. Furthermore, due to the ethical considerations, in 2009 animal models for cosmetic ingredients were banned by the European Union and in 2019, the Senate in Canada approved the S-214 of the Cruelty Free Cosmetics Act that prohibits the sale of cosmetics tested on animals. The utilization of in vitro skin models, e.g., multicellular organoids, organotypic micrometer-size 3D cell aggregates that replicate many features of tissues and organs, is highly recommended and favored. Currently, skin organoid models have at least, one of the following limitations: (i) broad distribution of organoid dimensions (leading to uncertainty in AI screening); (ii) poorly controlled environments for organoid growth; (iii) slow growth; and (iv) the lack of high-throughput AI screening. The objective of the proposed collaborative research is to design and develop a skin organoid-on-a-chip microfluidic platform to grow massive arrays of heterogeneous skin organoids (SOs) and utilize this MF platform for high-throughput screening of multiple AIs for skin care. Massive arrays of SOs will be grown from fibroblasts and keratinocytes, and exposed to Retinol (Vitamin A) and Vitamin C, and their mixtures, acting as representative AIs. The development of the MF platform for high-throughput screening of AIs is a vital step toward cost- and energy-effective manufacturing in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and skin care fields. These industrial sectors are of strategic importance in Canada and are represented by 11 production and R&D facilities of our industrial partner (BASF) in Canada. The proposed MF technology platform offers an approach to the development and optimization of AIs, thus contributing to the time-, labor- and cost-effective exploration and development of products with enhanced performance. It will enable the expansion of new technologies, thereby enhancing their potential for licensing and other commercial activities.