Themed collection Organ-, body- and disease-on-a-chip systems

Thought leader Michael Shuler provides an update on the Lab on a Chip organ-, body- and disease- on-a-chip thematic collection.

Thought leader Michael Shuler introduces the Lab on a Chip organ, body and disease on a chip thematic collection.

Organs-on-chips can be ‘personalised’ so they can be used as functional tests to inform clinical decision-making for specific patients.

The full impact of MPS technologies will be realized only when robust approaches for in vitro–in vivo (MPS-to-human) translation are developed and utilized.

We reviewed the foundational technologies underlying the commercialization efforts of the current prominent organ-on-a-chip start-ups.

Tumor progression is significantly influenced by factors such as mechanical force, shear stress, chemotaxis, and hypoxia. Here, we reviewed recent achievements and presented potential directions for tumor-on-a-chip systems in the future.

Human microphysiological systems were developed to model skeletal muscle and nerve-skeletal muscle interactions. These systems can be applied to a number of major disease states involve skeletal muscle, including type 2 diabetes, muscular dystrophy, sarcopenia and cachexia arising from cancer or heart disease.

By surpassing the predictive accuracy of conventional 2D cell culture models, tumor chips can reduce reliance on animal models in line with the 3Rs initiative and eliminate false positive selection of ineffective or toxic drugs earlier in the drug development pipeline, saving time and resources. Most importantly, better predictability of human drug response will reduce human risk and improve patient outcomes.

This Frontiers review analyzes the rapidly growing microfluidic strategies that have been employed in attempts to create physiologically relevant ‘organ-on-chip’ models using primary tissue removed from a body (human or animal).

We discuss microsensors for cell culture monitoring from 2D culture to organ-on-chip systems, including sensor principles, fabrication and culture formats.

In this review, we present the use of tumour-vessels-on-a-chip to investigate and screen nanoparticles for cancer targeted drug delivery.

Multi-functional LOC for transient allergy monitoring.

We created a human stomach-on-a-chip by using an innovative microfluidic imaging platform housing human gastric organoids (hGOs) with peristaltic luminal flow.

We introduce a novel microfluidic device to co-culture a blood vessel network and cell tissues in an in vivo-like niche.

Walther et al. employed vessel-chip technology to study how matrix stiffness and shear stress combine to influence endothelial cell YAP mechanobiology, discovering that stiff matrices impede the protective effects of physiologic shear stress.

This organ-on-a-chip device of the outer blood retinal barrier will allow future studies of complex disease mechanisms and treatments of visual disorders using clinically relevant endpoints in vitro.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) involves a progressive increase of lipid accumulation. We created a microfluidic progressive NAFLD platform using free fatty acid gradients to capture the wide spectrum of disease conditions in a single continuous liver tissue.

We compare current bioprinting technologies for their effective resolutions in the fabrication of micro-tissues towards construction of biomimetic microphysiological systems.

A three-compartment, miniaturized system to pretreat samples with artificial saliva, gastric juice, duodenal juice and bile for gut-on-a-chip applications.

Microphysiological systems (MPSs) are dynamic cell culture systems that provide micro-environmental and external cues to support physiologically relevant, organ-specific functions.

The development of drugs to treat cancer is hampered by the inefficiency of translating pre-clinical in vitro monoculture and mouse studies into clinical benefit.

The first microfluidic device for co-culture of two tissue slices under continuous recirculating flow was used to model tumor-induced immunosuppression.

A novel, automated workflow to capture and analyse confocal images of Organ-Chips allowing detailed assessment of cellular phenotype in situ.

Combining impedance spectroscopy with electrical simulation to reveal transepithelial barrier function and tissue structure of human intestinal epithelium cultured in an organ-on-chip.

Infiltration of immune cells into adipose tissue is associated with chronic low-grade inflammation in obese individuals.

A lung/liver-on-a-chip platform with metabolic capability over 28 days: a fit-for-purpose microfluidic system for toxicity assessment of pulmonary toxicants.

We created a tumor platform to study cell proliferation, angiogenesis, migration, intravasation, and treatments.

A biomimetic ‘adipose-tissue-on-chip’ integrated with nanoplasmonic biosensors for in situ multiplexed cytokine secretion analysis of obese adipose tissue.

A microfluidics/MEA platform was developed to control neuronal activity while imaging intracellular dynamics within reconstituted neuronal networks.

A tumor-on-a-chip platform with integration of decellularized liver matrix offers better biomimicry of tumor microenvironment and enhanced toxicity testing.

Microfluidic culture has the potential to revolutionize cancer diagnosis and therapy.

A microplate-based bioreactor was developed to support dual perfusion of parenchymal and barrier tissues for high-throughput microphysiological system (MPS) studies.

We developed a glass based, vascularized human biomimetic liver MPS recreating oxygen zonation present in the liver acinus.

UniChip enables recirculating unidirectional perfusion with gravity-driven flow, facilitating reliable and cost-effective integration of shear stress-sensitive tissues into microphysiological systems.

This work presents a biomimetic and reversibly-assembled liver-on-a-chip platform for building a 3D liver spheroid model.

Sensor-integrated liver chip unravels risks of drug-induced fatty liver disease associated with prescription drug use.

To improve predictive efficacy of organ-on-a-chip devices, developers must consider cell heterogeneity.

A simple planar platform that recapitulates the compartmentalization and physiological responses of mouse colon epithelium is presented.

A pumpless GI–Liver system using primary human intestinal epithelial cells serves as an improved model for drug studies.

Human cell-based 3D tissue constructs play an increasing role in disease modeling and drug screening.

Integrated inkjet-printed sensors in a liver-on-a-chip allow online oxygen monitoring, showing differential hepatocyte respiratory behaviour and an oxygen gradient.

A system for perfusing and interacting tumor fragments and immune cells and testing drug response with image analytics is reported.

A microengineered human corneal epithelium-on-a-chip is developed to mimic in vivo anatomical and physiological conditions for topical ophthalmological drug testing.

A novel lung airway-on-a-chip system that uses a suspended hydrogel to enable epithelial–matrix–smooth muscle cell interactions.

We present a new strategy to generate stem cell based human brain organoids using an organ-on-a-chip system that allows us to model prenatal nicotine exposure.

A PLGA nanofiber membrane supported lung-on-a-chip microdevice was developed to model the alveolar microenvironment for anti-cancer drug testing.

This work presents a new microfluidic chip to facilitate multicellular interactions and cell barrier function monitoring in real time.

A multi-throughput multi-organ-on-a-chip system was formed on a pneumatic pressure-driven medium circulation platform as a novel type of microphysiological system.

Contractility and rate of human stem cell heart tissues.

Studying blood clotting in stereolithography 3D-printed microfluidic chips with endothelialised vascular structures.

Combined integration of TEER and MEA sensors in a single endothelialized Organ-on-Chip platform.

We report a new heart-on-chip design capable of electrical stimulation, recording of growth, contraction and activating map from in vitro-cultured human cardiac tissues.

A biomimetic glomerulus-on-a-chip microdevice was created to recapitulate a disease model of diabetic nephropathy.

The emergence of microfluidic epithelial models using diverse types of cells within a physiologically relevant microenvironment has the potential to be a powerful tool for preclinical drug screening and pathophysiological studies.

A vascularized, perfused organ-on-a-chip platform suitable for large-scale drug efficacy/toxicity screening.

A novel bioprinted model of thrombosis was developed to study thrombosis and thrombolysis in vitro.