Methodology and Practice for Studying Crosstalk Between 3D Human Tissue Models in Pneumatically Actuated Multi-Organ-on-Chip Systems.

The drug development landscape is challenged by low success rates, largely due to the translational gap between effects observed in pre-clinical models and drug responses in clinical trials. Microphysiological systems (MPS) have the potential to narrow this gap by addressing some of the limitations of conventional static in vitro models, such as phenotypical irrelevance and lack of complexity. This is accomplished by integrating state-of-the-art microfluidics and bioengineering to better recapitulate tissue function and inter-organ crosstalk. Here, we describe the use of a multi-organ MPS for the culture of organotypic tissues. The system has been extensively optimized and benchmarked for assessing both short- and long-term dynamics and provides a low-absorption environment ideal for drug development.