Biomicrofluidics. 2011 Mar 30;5(1):13406. doi: 10.1063/1.3553237.
Microfluidic devices allow for precise control of the cellular and noncellular microenvironment at physiologically relevant length- and time-scales. These devices have been shown to mimic the complex in vivo microenvironment better than conventional in vitro assays, and allow real-time monitoring of homotypic or heterotypic cellular interactions. Microfluidic culture platforms enable new assay designs for culturing multiple different cell populations and∕or tissue specimens under controlled user-defined conditions. Applications include fundamental studies of cell population behaviors, high-throughput drug screening, and tissue engineering. In this review, we summarize recent developments in this field along with studies of heterotypic cell-cell interactions and tissue specimen culture in microfluidic devices from our own laboratory.
微流控设备可以在生理相关的长度和时间尺度上精确控制细胞和非细胞微环境。这些设备已被证明比传统的体外检测更好地模拟复杂的体内微环境，并允许实时监测同型或异型细胞相互作用。微流控培养平台能够设计新的检测方法，用于在受控的用户定义条件下培养多种不同的细胞群体和/或组织标本。应用包括细胞群体行为的基础研究、高通量药物筛选和组织工程。在这篇综述中，我们总结了该领域的最新进展，以及我们实验室在微流控设备中对异型细胞-细胞相互作用和组织标本培养的研究。
