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. 2024 Mar 11;14(1):5933.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-55952-3.

Assessing biologic/toxicologic effects of extractables from plastic contact materials for advanced therapy manufacturing using cell painting assay and cytotoxicity screening

Affiliations

Assessing biologic/toxicologic effects of extractables from plastic contact materials for advanced therapy manufacturing using cell painting assay and cytotoxicity screening

Ina Pahl et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Plastic components are essential in the pharmaceutical industry, encompassing container closure systems, laboratory handling equipment, and single-use systems. As part of their material qualification process, studies on interactions between plastic contact materials and process solutions or drug products are conducted. The assessment of single-use systems includes their potential impact on patient safety, product quality, and process performance. This is particularly crucial in cell and gene therapy applications since interactions with the plastic contact material may result in an adverse effect on the isolated therapeutic human cells. We utilized the cell painting assay (CPA), a non-targeted method, for profiling the morphological characteristics of U2OS human osteosarcoma cells in contact with chemicals related to plastic contact materials. Specifically, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of 45 common plastic extractables, and two extracts from single-use systems. Results of the CPA are compared with a standard cytotoxicity assay, an osteogenesis differentiation assay, and in silico toxicity predictions. The findings of this feasibility study demonstrate that the device extracts and most of the tested compounds do not evoke any measurable biological changes on the cells (induction ≤ 5%) among the 579 cell features measured at concentrations ≤ 50 µM. CPA can serve as an important assay to reveal unique information not accessible through quantitative structure-activity relationship analysis and vice versa. The results highlight the need for a combination of in vitro and in silico methods in a comprehensive assessment of single-use equipment utilized in advanced therapy medicinal products manufacturing.

Keywords: Advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP); Cell and gene therapy; Cell painting assay (CPA); Extractables and leachables; Process equipment-related leachables (PERL); Single-use systems.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Plate test layout and imaging. High-Content Screening system parameters: 5 channels (DAPI: Ex350-400/Em410-480; FITC: Ex470-500/Em510-540; Spectrum Gold: Ex520-545/Em560-585; TxRed: Ex535-585/Em600-650; Cy5: Ex605-650/Em670-715) with 9 sites per well and 20 × magnification (binning 2).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Above: An example for two compounds with highly similar profiles (96% biosimilarity); below: An example for two compounds with low similarity profiles (0% Biosimilarity): In each case, colored bands represent the Z-scores of individual features.
Figure 3
Figure 3
List of currently identified clusters and their median profiles. By comparing the median cluster profiles to the matching sub-profiles of measured compounds (only profiles of the same length can be compared for similarity), a biosimilarity to each cluster can be calculated.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The CPA in U2OS cells. The top row shows cells after treatment with N-Lauryldiethanolamine; the middle row shows cells after treatment with bDtBPP; and the bottom row shows cells after treatment with the control (DMSO). The columns display the five channels imaged in the CPA-focusing cellular compartments: Mitochondria (MitoTracker Deep Red); Golgi/Cell Membrane/Cytoskeleton (Wheat-germ agglutinin-Alexa Fluor 555/Phalloidin-Alexa Fluor 568); Cytoplasmic RNA/Nucleoli (SYTO 14 green fluorescent nucleic acid stain); Endoplasmic Reticulum (Concanavalin A-Alexa Fluor 488); Nuclei (Hoechst 33342). Images were captured at 20 × magnification.*RNA: ribonucleic acid.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Heatmap of compounds (with molarity) active in the CPA showing scored cell profiles from 579 features. Each colored band represents one Z-score of a feature. Blue color: decreased feature, red color: increased feature.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Percentage of changed imaged channels for CPA-active compounds. ER: Endoplasmic Reticulum; Hoechst: Nuclei; Mito: Mitochondria; Ph_golgi: Golgi/Cell Membrane/Cytoskeleton; Syto: Cytoplasmic RNA/Nucleoli.

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