A Microphysiologic Platform for Human Fat: Sandwiched White Adipose Tissue

Abstract

White adipose tissue (WAT) plays a crucial role in regulating weight and everyday health. Still, there are significant limitations to available primary culture models, all of which have failed to faithfully recapitulate the adipose microenvironment or extend WAT viability beyond two weeks. The lack of a reliable primary culture model severely impedes research in WAT metabolism and drug development. To this end we have utilized NIH's standards of a microphysiologic system to develop a novel platform for WAT primary culture called 'SWAT' (sandwiched white adipose tissue). We overcome the natural buoyancy of adipocytes by sandwiching minced WAT clusters between sheets of adipose-derived stromal cells. In this construct, WAT samples are viable over eight weeks in culture. SWAT maintains the intact ECM, cell-to-cell contacts, and physical pressures of in vivo WAT conditions; additionally, SWAT maintains a robust transcriptional profile, sensitivity to exogenous chemical signaling, and whole tissue function. SWAT represents a simple, reproducible, and effective method of primary adipose culture. Potentially, it is a broadly applicable platform for research in WAT physiology, pathophysiology, metabolism, and pharmaceutical development.

Quantifying Breast Cancer-Driven Fiber Alignment and Collagen Deposition in Primary Human Breast Tissue

“…To acquire images of ECM fibers, breast cancer microphysiological systems (BC-MPSs) were generated by culturing primary breast tissue between two sheets of adipose-derived stromal cells (ASCs); this was a modification of a previously described method for culturing adipose tissues ( Lau et al, 2018 ; Scahill et al, 2018 ). Briefly, six-well culture plates were seeded with ASCs ( Figure 1 ).…”