bims-orenst 2021-02-14 papers

bims-orenst

Biomed News

on Organs-on-chips and engineered stem cell models

Issue of 2021‒02‒14
ten papers selected by
Joram Mooiweer
University of Groningen

A multi-niche microvascularized human bone marrow (hBM) on-a-chip elucidates key roles of the endosteal niche in hBM physiology.
Human Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis on a Chip.
Multi-Compartment Lymph-Node-on-a-Chip Enables Measurement of Immune Cell Motility in Response to Drugs.
A Three-Dimensional Microfluidic Device for Monitoring Cancer and Chemotherapy-Associated Platelet Activation.
Simplified ARCHITECT microfluidic chip through a dual-flip strategy enables stable and versatile tumoroid formation combined with label-free quantitative proteomic analysis.
Modeling of Endothelial Calcium Responses within a Microfluidic Generator of Spatio-Temporal ATP and Shear Stress Signals.
Flow induces barrier and glycocalyx-related genes and negative surface charge in a lab-on-a-chip human blood-brain barrier model.
Micro-electrode channel guide (µECG) technology: an online method for continuous electrical recording in a human beating heart-on-chip.
Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived vascular networks to screen nano-bio interactions.
A 3D-printed microfluidic platform for simulating the effects of CPAP on the nasal epithelium.

Biomaterials. 2021 Jan 25. pii: S0142-9612(21)00034-X. [Epub ahead of print]270 120683

A multi-niche microvascularized human bone marrow (hBM) on-a-chip elucidates key roles of the endosteal niche in hBM physiology.

Michael R Nelson, Delta Ghoshal, Joscelyn C Mejías, David Frey Rubio, Emily Keith, Krishnendu Roy.

  The human bone marrow (hBM) is a complex organ critical for hematopoietic and immune homeostasis, and where many cancers metastasize. Understanding the fundamental biology of the hBM in health and diseases remain difficult due to complexity of studying or manipulating the BM in humans. Accurate biomaterial-based in vitro models of the hBM microenvironment are critical to further our understanding of the BM-niche and advancing new clinical interventions. Here we report a unique, 96-well format, microfluidic hBM-on-a-chip that incorporates the endosteal, central marrow, and perivascular niches of the human BM. Osteogenic differentiation of donor human mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) produced robust mineralization on the bottom surface ("bone-like endosteal layer") of the device, and subsequent seeding of human endothelial cells and MSCs in a fibrin-collagen hydrogel network ("central marrow") on the top created an interconnected 3D microvascular network ("perivascular niche"). The 96-well format allows eight independent "chips" to be studied in one plate, thereby increasing throughput and reproducibility. We show that this complex, multi-niche microtissue accurately mimics hBM composition and microphysiology, while providing key insights on hematopoietic progenitor dynamics. Presence of the endosteal niche decreased the proliferation and increased maintenance of CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Upon exposure to radiation, HSCs in the hBM-chips containing endosteal niches were less frequently apoptotic, suggesting a potentially radio-protective role of the osteoblast surface. Our methods and results provide a broad platform for creating complex, multi-niche, high-throughput microphysiological (MPS) systems. Specifically, this hBM-on-a-chip opens new opportunities in human bone marrow research and therapeutics development, and can be used to better understand normal and impaired hematopoiesis, and various hBM pathologies, including cancer and BM failures.

Keywords:  Bone marrow niche; Hematopoietic stem cells; Microfluidic chip; Radiation

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2021.120683
Hepatol Commun. 2021 Feb;5(2): 217-233

Human Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis on a Chip.

May S Freag, Bumseok Namgung, Maria E Reyna Fernandez, Ermanno Gherardi, Shiladitya Sengupta, Hae Lin Jang.

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), an advanced stage of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is a rapidly growing and global health problem compounded by the current absence of specific treatments. A major limiting factor in the development of new NASH therapies is the absence of models that capture the unique cellular structure of the liver microenvironment and recapitulate the complexities of NAFLD progression to NASH. Organ-on-a-chip platforms have emerged as a powerful approach to dynamically model diseases and test drugs. Herein, we describe a NASH-on-a-chip platform. Four main types of human primary liver cells (hepatocytes [HCs], Kupffer cells, liver sinusoidal endothelial cells, and hepatic stellate cells [HSCs]) were cocultured under microfluidic dynamics. Our chip-based model successfully recapitulated a functional liver cellular microenvironment with stable albumin and urea secretion for at least 2 weeks. Exposing liver chips to a lipotoxic environment led to gradual development of NASH phenotypic characteristics, including intracellular lipid accumulation, hepatocellular ballooning, HSC activation, and elevation of inflammatory and profibrotic markers. Further, exposure of the chip to elafibranor, a drug under study for the therapy of NASH, inhibited the development of NASH-specific hallmarks, causing an ~8-fold decrease in intracellular lipids, a 3-fold reduction in number of ballooned HCs, a significant reduction in HSC activation, and a significant decrease in the levels of inflammatory and profibrotic markers compared with controls. Conclusion: We have successfully developed a microfluidic NASH-on-a-chip platform that recapitulates the main NASH histologic endpoints in a single chip and that can emerge as a powerful noninvasive, human-relevant, in vitro platform to study disease pathogenesis and develop novel anti-NASH drugs.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/hep4.1647
Bioengineering (Basel). 2021 Jan 31. pii: 19. [Epub ahead of print]8(2):

Multi-Compartment Lymph-Node-on-a-Chip Enables Measurement of Immune Cell Motility in Response to Drugs.

Nicholas Hallfors, Aya Shanti, Jiranuwat Sapudom, Jeremy Teo, Georg Petroianu, SungMun Lee, Lourdes Planelles, Cesare Stefanini.

  Organs On-a-Chip represent novel platforms for modelling human physiology and disease. The lymph node (LN) is a relevant immune organ in which B and T lymphocytes are spatially organized in a complex architecture, and it is the place where the immune response initiates. The present study addresses the utility of a recently designed LN-on-a-chip to dissect and understand the effect of drugs delivered to cells in a fluidic multicellular 3D setting that mimics the human LN. To do so, we analyzed the motility and viability of human B and T cells exposed to hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). We show that the innovative LN platform, which operates at a microscale level, allows real-time monitoring of co-cultured B and T cells by imaging, and supports cellular random movement. HCQ delivered to cells through a constant and continuous flow induces a reduction in T cell velocity while promotes persistent rotational motion. We also find that HCQ increases the production of reactive oxygen species in T cells. Taken together, these results highlight the potential of the LN-on-a-chip to be applied in drug screening and development, and in cellular dynamics studies.

Keywords:  hydroxychloroquine; lymph node-on-a-chip; motility; reactive oxygen species; rotational motion

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering8020019
ACS Omega. 2021 Feb 02. 6(4): 3164-3172

A Three-Dimensional Microfluidic Device for Monitoring Cancer and Chemotherapy-Associated Platelet Activation.

Zhujing Hao, Haichen Lv, Ruopeng Tan, Xiaolei Yang, Yang Liu, Yun-Long Xia.

Platelet activation and the risk of thrombosis are increased in cancer patients, especially after chemotherapy. Our previous studies indicated that chemotherapy-induced platelet activation is largely due to endothelial cell damage. Thus, simple in vitro tests, such as aggregometry, are not desirable tests to predict platelet responsiveness to different chemotherapeutic agents because other contributory factors, such as tumor cells, endothelial cells, and the flow rate of platelets, also contribute to the formation of cancer-associated thrombosis. Therefore, developing a platelet detection system, which includes all possible risk parameters, is necessary. In the present study, we described a microengineered microfluidic system that contained a drug concentration generator, cancer cell culture chip, and three-dimensional (3D) circular microvascular model covered with a confluent endothelial layer and perfused with human platelets at a stable flow rate. Doxorubicin was injected through two injection sites. Endothelial cell injury was evaluated by counting, cell cytoskeleton observation, and the level of IACM1 and ET-1 in endothelial cells or a culture medium. Prestained platelets were perfused into the artificial blood vessel, and platelet-endothelial cell adhesion was measured. We found that (i) MCF7 cell-released factors had a cytotoxicity effect on both endothelial cells and platelets. (ii) We confirmed that doxorubicin-induced platelet activation was endothelial cell-dependent. (iii) A lower dosage of doxorubicin (0-2.0 μM) induced platelet activation, while a higher dosage of doxorubicin (2.0-4.0 μM) led to platelet death. Our findings indicated that platelet-endothelial cell adhesion could be used as a diagnostic marker of platelet activation, providing a simple and rapid detective way to predict platelet responsiveness before or during chemotherapy.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.0c05572
Biofabrication. 2021 Feb 12.

Simplified ARCHITECT microfluidic chip through a dual-flip strategy enables stable and versatile tumoroid formation combined with label-free quantitative proteomic analysis.

Danni Feng, Junwei Lv, Aynur Abdulla, Jianwei Xu, Xiao Sang, Liping Wang, Wenjia Liu, Jiatao Lou, Bo Zhao, Xianting Ding.

  Recent years, microfluidic three-dimensional(3D) tumor culture technique has made great progress in tumor microenvironment simulation and drug screening. Meanwhile, as their functionality and complexity increase, it is more difficult for current chip models to selectively collect specific-layer cells from tumoroids for further analysis. Moreover, a simplified and robust method for tumoroid formation with highly consistent size and repeatable 3D morphology is relatively ncessary. Here, we report an ARCHITECT (ARtificial CHIp for Tumor Enables Confocal Topography observation) chip, through a dual-flip strategy to implement straightforward tumoroid establishment. This platform guarantees stable batch-to-batch tumoroids formation and allows high resolution confocal imaging. Moreover, an initial cell density as low as 65 cells per chamber is efficient to deliver a tumoroid. With this ARCHITECT chip, different-layer cells of interest could be collected from tumoroid for label-free quantitative(LFQ) proteomic analysis. For application demonstration, we mainly verified this platform for lung carcinoma (A549) tumoroid construction and proteomic analysis at out layer. Our data indicate that the out-layer cells of A549 tumoroid show extensively distinct proteomic expressions compared to two-dimensional cultured A549 cells. The up-regulated proteins are mainly related to tumorigenicity, proliferation and metastasis. And the differentially expressed proteins are mainly relevant to lipid metabolism pathway which is essential to tumor progression and proliferation. This platform provides a simplified yet robust technique to connect microfluidic tumoroid construction and LFQ proteomic analysis. The simplicity of this technique should open the way to numerous applications such as discovering the innovative targets for cancer treatment, and studying the mophological and proteomic heterogeneity of different-layer cells across the tumoroid.

Keywords:  label-free quantitative proteomic analysis; microfluidic chip; tumoroid culture

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1088/1758-5090/abe5b5
Micromachines (Basel). 2021 Feb 07. pii: 161. [Epub ahead of print]12(2):

Modeling of Endothelial Calcium Responses within a Microfluidic Generator of Spatio-Temporal ATP and Shear Stress Signals.

Yong-Jiang Li, Miao Yu, Chun-Dong Xue, Hai-Jun Zhang, Guo-Zhen Wang, Xiao-Ming Chen, Kai-Rong Qin.

  Intracellular calcium dynamics play essential roles in the proper functioning of cellular activities. It is a well known important chemosensing and mechanosensing process regulated by the spatio-temporal microenvironment. Nevertheless, how spatio-temporal biochemical and biomechanical stimuli affect calcium dynamics is not fully understood and the underlying regulation mechanism remains missing. Herein, based on a developed microfluidic generator of biochemical and biomechanical signals, we theoretically analyzed the generation of spatio-temporal ATP and shear stress signals within the microfluidic platform and investigated the effect of spatial combination of ATP and shear stress stimuli on the intracellular calcium dynamics. The simulation results demonstrate the capacity and flexibility of the microfluidic system in generating spatio-temporal ATP and shear stress. Along the transverse direction of the microchannel, dynamic ATP signals of distinct amplitudes coupled with identical shear stress are created, which induce the spatio-temporal diversity in calcium responses. Interestingly, to the multiple combinations of stimuli, the intracellular calcium dynamics reveal two main modes: unimodal and oscillatory modes, showing significant dependence on the features of the spatio-temporal ATP and shear stress stimuli. The present study provides essential information for controlling calcium dynamics by regulating spatio-temporal biochemical and biomechanical stimuli, which shows the potential in directing cellular activities and understanding the occurrence and development of disease.

Keywords:  ATP and shear stress stimuli; endothelial cells; intracellular calcium dynamics; spatio-temporal signals; theoretical modeling

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12020161
J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2021 Feb 09. 271678X21992638

Flow induces barrier and glycocalyx-related genes and negative surface charge in a lab-on-a-chip human blood-brain barrier model.

Ana R Santa-Maria, Fruzsina R Walter, Ricardo Figueiredo, András Kincses, Judit P Vigh, Marjolein Heymans, Maxime Culot, Peter Winter, Fabien Gosselet, András Dér, Mária A Deli.

  Microfluidic lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices allow the study of blood-brain barrier (BBB) properties in dynamic conditions. We studied a BBB model, consisting of human endothelial cells derived from hematopoietic stem cells in co-culture with brain pericytes, in an LOC device to study fluid flow in the regulation of endothelial, BBB and glycocalyx-related genes and surface charge. The highly negatively charged endothelial surface glycocalyx functions as mechano-sensor detecting shear forces generated by blood flow on the luminal side of brain endothelial cells and contributes to the physical barrier of the BBB. Despite the importance of glycocalyx in the regulation of BBB permeability in physiological conditions and in diseases, the underlying mechanisms remained unclear. The MACE-seq gene expression profiling analysis showed differentially expressed endothelial, BBB and glycocalyx core protein genes after fluid flow, as well as enriched pathways for the extracellular matrix molecules. We observed increased barrier properties, a higher intensity glycocalyx staining and a more negative surface charge of human brain-like endothelial cells (BLECs) in dynamic conditions. Our work is the first study to provide data on BBB properties and glycocalyx of BLECs in an LOC device under dynamic conditions and confirms the importance of fluid flow for BBB culture models.

Keywords:  Blood-brain barrier; gene sequencing; glycocalyx; lab-on-a-chip; surface charge

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/0271678X21992638
Biofabrication. 2021 Feb 09.

Micro-electrode channel guide (µECG) technology: an online method for continuous electrical recording in a human beating heart-on-chip.

Roberta Visone, Giovanni Stefano Ugolini, Daniela Cruz-Moreira, Simona Marzorati, Stefano Piazza, Enrico Pesenti, Alberto Redaelli, Matteo Moretti, Paola Occhetta, Marco Rasponi.

  Cardiac toxicity still represents a common adverse outcome causing drug attrition and post-marketing withdrawal. The development of relevant in vitro models resembling the human heart recently opened the path towards a more accurate detection of drug-induced human cardiac toxicity early in the drug development process. Organs-on-chip (OoC) have been proposed as promising tools to recapitulate in vitro the key aspects of the in vivo cardiac physiology and to provide a means to directly analyze functional readouts. In this scenario, a new device capable of continuous monitoring of electrophysiological signals from functional in vitro human hearts-on-chip is here presented. The development of cardiac microtissues was achieved through a recently published method to control the mechanical environment, while the introduction of a technology consisting in micro-electrode coaxial guides (µECG) allowed to conduct direct and non-destructive electrophysiology studies. The generated human cardiac microtissues exhibited synchronous spontaneous beating, as demonstrated by multi-point and continuous acquisition of cardiac field potential, and expression of relevant genes encoding for cardiac ion-channels. A proof-of-concept pharmacological validation on 3 drugs proved the proposed model to potentially be a powerful tool to evaluate functional cardiac toxicity.

Keywords:  cardiac model; drug screening; electrophysiology; field potential; heart-on-chip; mechanical stimulation; organs-on-chip

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1088/1758-5090/abe4c4
Nanoscale Horiz. 2021 Feb 12.

Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived vascular networks to screen nano-bio interactions.

Luís Estronca, Vitor Francisco, Patrícia Pitrez, Inês Honório, Lara Carvalho, Helena Vazão, Josephine Blersch, Akhilesh Rai, Xavier Nissan, Ulrich Simon, Mário Grãos, Leonor Saúde, Lino Ferreira.

The vascular bioactivity/safety of nanomaterials is typically evaluated by animal testing, which is of low throughput and does not account for biological differences between animals and humans such as ageing, metabolism and disease profiles. The development of personalized human in vitro platforms to evaluate the interaction of nanomaterials with the vascular system would be important for both therapeutic and regenerative medicine. A library of 30 nanoparticle (NP) formulations, in use in imaging, antimicrobial and pharmaceutical applications, was evaluated in a reporter zebrafish model of vasculogenesis and then tested in personalized humanized models composed of human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived endothelial cells (ECs) with "young" and "aged" phenotypes in 3 vascular network formats: 2D (in polystyrene dish), 3D (in Matrigel) and in a blood vessel on a chip. As a proof of concept, vascular toxicity was used as the main readout. The results show that the toxicity profile of NPs to hiPSC-ECs was dependent on the "age" of the endothelial cells and vascular network format. hiPSC-ECs were less susceptible to the cytotoxicity effect of NPs when cultured in flow than in static conditions, the protective effect being mediated, at least in part, by glycocalyx. Overall, the results presented here highlight the relevance of in vitro hiPSC-derived vascular systems to screen vascular nanomaterial interactions.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d0nh00550a
Biofabrication. 2021 Feb 09.

A 3D-printed microfluidic platform for simulating the effects of CPAP on the nasal epithelium.

Jesus Shrestha, Sean Thomas Ryan, Oliver Mills, Sareh Zhand, Sajad Razavi Bazaz, Philip Michael Hansbro, Maliheh Ghadiri, Majid Ebrahimi Warkiani.

  Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a chronic disorder that involves a decrease or complete cessation of airflow during sleep. It occurs when the muscles supporting the soft tissues in the throat relax during sleep, causing narrowing or closure of the upper airway. Sleep apnoea is a serious medical condition with an increased risk of cardiovascular complications and impaired quality of life. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the most effective treatment for moderate to severe cases of OSA and is effective in mild sleep apnoea. However, CPAP therapy is associated with the development of several nasal side effects and is inconvenient for the user, leading to low compliance rates. The effects of CPAP treatment on the upper respiratory system, as well as the pathogenesis of side effects, are incompletely understood and not adequately researched. To better understand the effects of CPAP treatment on the upper respiratory system, we developed an in vitro 3D-printed microfluidic platform. A nasal epithelial cell line, RPMI 2650, was then exposed to certain conditions to mimic the in-vivo environment. To create these conditions, the microfluidic device was utilized to expose nasal epithelial cells grown and differentiated at the air-liquid interface. The airflow was similar to what is experienced with CPAP, with pressure ranging between 0-20 cm of H20. Cells exposed to pressure showed decreased barrier integrity, change in cellular shape, and increased cell death (lactate dehydrogenase release into media) compared to unstressed cells. Stressed cells also showed increased secretions of inflammatory markers IL-6 and IL-8 and had increased production of ATP. Our results suggest that stress induced by airflow leads to structural, metabolic, and inflammatory changes in the nasal epithelium, which may be responsible for developing nasal side-effects following CPAP treatment.

Keywords:  3D-printing; Continuous Positive Airway Pressure; Microfluidics; Nasal Epithelium; Nose-on-a-chip; Obstructive Sleep Apnea

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1088/1758-5090/abe4c1