Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan.
Biomed Microdevices. 2011 Oct;13(5):847-64. doi: 10.1007/s10544-011-9555-1.
To the extent possible, artificial organs should have characteristics that match those of the in vivo system. To this end, microfabrication techniques allow us to create microenvironments that can help maintain cell organization and functionality in in vitro cultures. We present three new microbioreactors, each of which allows cells to be cultured in a perfused microenvironment similar to that found in vivo. Our microbioreactors use new technology that permits integration onto the chip (35 mm × 20 mm) of an electrical sensor, in addition to one or more pumping systems and associated perfusion circuitry. The monitoring of Caco-2 cell cultures using electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) has allowed us to measure the effects of cell growth, cellular barrier formation and the presence of chemical compounds and/or toxins. Specifically, we have investigated the ability of the electrical sensor to maintain appropriate sensitivity and precision. Our results show that the sensor was very sensitive not only to the presence or the absence of the cells, but also to changes in cell state. Our perfused microbioreactors are highly efficient miniaturized tools that are easy to operate. We anticipate that they will offer promising new opportunities in many types of cell culture research, including drug screening and tissue engineering.
在可能的情况下，人工器官应该具有与体内系统相匹配的特性。为此，微制造技术允许我们创建微环境，有助于维持体外培养物中的细胞组织和功能。我们提出了三种新的微生物反应器，每种反应器都允许细胞在类似于体内的灌注微环境中培养。我们的微生物反应器采用了新技术，允许除了一个或多个泵送系统和相关的灌注电路之外，还可以在芯片（35mm×20mm）上集成电传感器。使用电化学阻抗谱（EIS）对 Caco-2 细胞培养物的监测使我们能够测量细胞生长、细胞屏障形成以及化学化合物和/或毒素存在的影响。具体来说，我们研究了电传感器保持适当灵敏度和精度的能力。我们的结果表明，该传感器不仅对细胞的存在或不存在非常敏感，而且对细胞状态的变化也非常敏感。我们的灌注式微生物反应器是高效的微型工具，易于操作。我们预计它们将在许多类型的细胞培养研究中提供有前途的新机会，包括药物筛选和组织工程。
