Ramadan Qasem, Gourikutty Sajay Bhuvanendran Nair, Zhang Qing Xin
Agency for Science, Technology and Research, 2 Fusionopolis Way, #08-02, Innovis Tower, Singapore 138635, Singapore.
College of Science and General Studies, Alfaisal University, Riyadh 11533, Saudi Arabia.
Micromachines (Basel). 2020 May 31;11(6):565. doi: 10.3390/mi11060565.
Improved in vitro models of human organs for predicting drug efficacy, interactions, and disease modelling are crucially needed to minimize the use of animal models, which inevitably display significant differences from the human disease state and metabolism. Inside the body, cells are organized either in direct contact or in close proximity to other cell types in a tightly controlled architecture that regulates tissue function. To emulate this cellular interface in vitro, an advanced cell culture system is required. In this paper, we describe a set of compartmentalized silicon-based microfluidic chips that enable co-culturing several types of cells in close proximity with enhanced cell-cell interaction. In vivo-like fluid flow into and/or from each compartment, as well as between adjacent compartments, is maintained by micro-engineered porous barriers. This porous structure provides a tool for mimicking the paracrine exchange between cells in the human body. As a demonstrating example, the microfluidic system was tested by culturing human adipose tissue that is infiltrated with immune cells to study the role if the interplay between the two cells in the context of type 2 diabetes. However, the system provides a platform technology for mimicking the structure and function of single- and multi-organ models, which could significantly narrow the gap between in vivo and in vitro conditions.
为了尽量减少动物模型的使用，迫切需要改进用于预测药物疗效、相互作用和疾病建模的人体器官体外模型，因为动物模型不可避免地与人类疾病状态和新陈代谢存在显著差异。在体内，细胞以紧密控制的结构与其他细胞类型直接接触或紧密相邻排列，这种结构调节着组织功能。为了在体外模拟这种细胞界面，需要一种先进的细胞培养系统。在本文中，我们描述了一组分隔式硅基微流控芯片，这些芯片能够使几种类型的细胞紧密共培养，增强细胞间相互作用。通过微工程多孔屏障维持进入和/或流出每个隔室以及相邻隔室之间类似体内的流体流动。这种多孔结构为模拟人体细胞间旁分泌交换提供了一种工具。作为一个示范例子，通过培养浸润有免疫细胞的人脂肪组织来测试微流控系统，以研究在2型糖尿病背景下这两种细胞之间相互作用的作用。然而，该系统为模拟单器官和多器官模型的结构和功能提供了一种平台技术，这可以显著缩小体内和体外条件之间的差距。
