Sakai Yasuyuki, Kimura Hiroshi
Department of Chemical System Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo.
Department of Bioengineering, Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo.
Nihon Yakurigaku Zasshi. 2022;157(5):330-334. doi: 10.1254/fpj.22046.
With the remarkable scientific advances in stem cells technologies and culture systems, it is no longer a dream to construct in vitro cultured tissue/organ models that respond completely as if they were in vivo. The microphysiological system (MPS) is a symbol of the growing worldwide momentum to promote the use of in vitro methods. The development of MPS devices as a culture system itself has been almost completed both in Japan and overseas, thus, the focus from now on is on the construction of prediction systems and evaluation of their applicability in accordance with the specific requirements (context of use: CoU), for example, of the drug discovery process of pharmaceutical companies. A notable trend at this stage is the close communication between developers (companies and researchers), users, and regulatory authorities, and the organization of the European Organ on a Chip Society (EUROoCS) and the International MPS Summit involving these stakeholders has begun. It is strongly expected that academic studies on in vitro systems symbolized by MPS and their results for the evaluation and prediction of individual responses and their application in society will continue to advance, leading to the promotion of alternatives to animal experiments.
随着干细胞技术和培养系统取得的显著科学进展，构建能够完全像在体内一样做出反应的体外培养组织/器官模型已不再是梦想。微生理系统（MPS）是全球范围内推动体外方法应用的发展势头日益增强的一个标志。作为一种培养系统，MPS装置在日本和海外的开发本身已基本完成，因此，从现在起重点在于根据特定要求（使用背景：CoU）构建预测系统并评估其适用性，例如制药公司药物研发过程的要求。现阶段一个显著趋势是开发者（公司和研究人员）、用户和监管机构之间的密切沟通，并且由这些利益相关者参与的欧洲芯片上器官协会（EUROoCS）和国际MPS峰会的组织工作已经启动。人们强烈期望，以MPS为代表的体外系统的学术研究及其在个体反应评估和预测方面的成果以及在社会中的应用将继续推进，从而促进动物实验替代方法的推广。
