3D microfluidic liver on a chip
Researchers in South Korea have developed a three-dimensional liver model that can recreate cell signalling within the organ. The liver on a chip could cut tests on animals by providing an accurate artificial model of how the organ responds to new drugs.
The team, led by SangHoon Lee, at Korea University, Seoul, has developed a new spheroid-based three-dimensional culture system. Such systems make the best mimics of natural liver cell arrangements. To create uniform three-dimensional hepatic cell structures, the chip has concave microwells. HSCs were cultured in flat wells, in separate chambers to the hepatic cells, to avoid cell–cell contacts. The different cell types were linked via connecting tubes. An osmotic pump enables continuous control over nutrient supply and waste removal. The pump also makes it possible to control the rate of nutrient solution flow. This lets the liver on a chip more accurately mimic living tissue and allows scientists to study the effect of varying the flow rate on paracrine interactions.
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