Organ-on-a-Chip systems for new drugs development

Abstract

Research on alternatives to the use of animal models and cell cultures has led to the creation of organ-on-a-chip systems, in which organs and their physiological reactions to the presence of external stimuli are simulated. These systems could even replace the use of human beings as subjects for the study of drugs in clinical phases and have an impact on personalized therapies. Organ-on-a-chip technology present higher potential than traditional cell cultures for an appropriate prediction of functional impairments, appearance of adverse effects, the pharmacokinetic and toxicological profile and the efficacy of a drug. This potential is given by the possibility of placing different cell lines in a three-dimensional-arranged polymer piece and simulating and controlling specific conditions. Thus, the normal functioning of an organ, tissue, barrier, or physiological phenomenon can be simulated, as well as the interrelation between different systems. Furthermore, this alternative allows the study of physiological and pathophysiological processes. Its design combines different disciplines such as materials engineering, cell cultures, microfluidics and physiology, among others. This work presents the main considerations of OoC systems, the materials, methods and cell lines used for their design, and the conditions required for their proper functioning. Examples of applications and main challenges for the development of more robust systems are shown. This non-systematic review is intended to be a reference framework that facilitates research focused on the development of new OoC systems, as well as their use as alternatives in pharmacological, pharmacokinetic and toxicological studies.

NAFLD-Related HCC: Focus on the Latest Relevant Preclinical Models

“…However, the automated control of critical parameters, such as temperature, fluid pressures, cell shear stress, nutrient supply, and waste removal, is not possible with these static platforms. Efforts have been made to overcome these limitations by producing powerful "organ-on-a chip" (OOC) platforms for dealing with these parameters and for the dynamic modeling of diseases and drug testing [141][142][143]. OOC systems bear some similarity to spheroids/organoids.…”

Applications of biopolymer coatings in biomedical engineering

“…It is also used in drug delivery and DNA sequencing. In addition, it is an excellent organ-on-chip substrate that may be utilized to investigate the behavior of stem cells [80]. Figure 4 shows the cytotoxicity of human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSCs) grown on aligned and flat PDMS substrates by live dead staining [81].…”

Test

“…Functionally, a brain contains numerous layer upon layer wherein innumerable nerve cell, goal but also immunological cellular connect and thus are operationally secured even by skull through the mechanical stress although by the irmly BBB from of the toxicants. Now, a recapitulation of full structure and performance of a brain inside an engineered process seems to be disabled due to a restricted technic but also, thereby, recent research have decided to focus on it recapitulation of speci ic parts like brain tissue, such like unit-directional neural network, functionally tight BBB, myelination process, as well as structure of the spinal cord [14].…”