Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Lab Chip. 2017 Jul 11;17(14):2395-2420. doi: 10.1039/c6lc01554a.
To curb the high cost of drug development, there is an urgent need to develop more predictive tissue models using human cells to determine drug efficacy and safety in advance of clinical testing. Recent insights gained through fundamental biological studies have validated the importance of dynamic cell environments and cellular communication to the expression of high fidelity organ function. Building on this knowledge, emerging organ-on-a-chip technology is poised to fill the gaps in drug screening by offering predictive human tissue models with methods of sophisticated tissue assembly. Organ-on-a-chip start-ups have begun to spawn from academic research to fill this commercial space and are attracting investment to transform the drug discovery industry. This review traces the history, examines the scientific foundation and envisages the prospect of these renowned organ-on-a-chip technologies. It serves as a guide for new members of this dynamic field to navigate the existing scientific and market space.
为了控制药物开发的高成本，迫切需要使用人类细胞开发更多具有预测性的组织模型，以便在临床测试之前提前确定药物的疗效和安全性。最近通过基础生物学研究获得的新认识证实了动态细胞环境和细胞通讯对高保真器官功能表达的重要性。基于这方面的知识，新兴的器官芯片技术有望通过提供具有复杂组织组装方法的预测性人体组织模型来填补药物筛选中的空白。器官芯片初创公司已经开始从学术研究中涌现出来，以填补这一商业空白，并吸引投资来改变药物发现行业。本综述追溯了这些著名的器官芯片技术的历史，考察了其科学基础，并展望了其前景。它为这个充满活力的领域的新成员提供了一个指南，帮助他们了解现有的科学和市场空间。
