Research Institute of Materials Science, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
Lab Chip. 2012 Oct 21;12(20):4037-40. doi: 10.1039/c2lc40801e.
This communication describes the formation of tubular structures with a circular cross-section by growing epithelial cells in a microfluidic (MF) device. Here we show for the first time that it is possible to form a monolayer of polarized cells, embedded within the MF device which can function as an in vivo epithelia. We showed: i) the overexpression of specific protein(s) of interest (i.e., ion channel and transport proteins) is feasible inside tubular structures in MFs; ii) the functional kinetic information of Ca(2+) in cells can be measured by microflurometry using cell permeable Ca(2+) probe under confocal microscope; and iii) calcium phosphate stones can be produced in real time in MFs with Ca(2+) transporting epithelia. These data suggest that tubular structures inside this MF platform can be used as a suitable model to understand the molecular and pharmacological basis of calcium phosphate stone formation in the epithelial or other similar cellular micro environments.
本文描述了在微流控（MF）装置中通过生长上皮细胞来形成具有圆形横截面的管状结构。在这里，我们首次表明，可以在 MF 装置内形成单层极化细胞，这些细胞可以作为体内上皮细胞发挥作用。我们展示了：i）在 MF 中的管状结构内过表达感兴趣的特定蛋白质（即离子通道和转运蛋白）是可行的；ii）可以使用细胞通透性 Ca（2+）探针在共聚焦显微镜下通过微荧光法测量细胞内 Ca（2+）的功能动力学信息；iii）可以在具有 Ca（2+）转运上皮的 MF 中实时产生磷酸钙结石。这些数据表明，该 MF 平台内的管状结构可用作合适的模型，以了解上皮细胞或其他类似细胞微环境中磷酸钙结石形成的分子和药理学基础。
