A Foreign Body Response-on-a-Chip Platform.

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Immunology
• Microfluidics

Background:

• The foreign body response (FBR) is a major challenge for implantable devices and biomaterials.
• Developing strategies to modulate FBR is crucial for improving implant success.
• Current models often fail to fully replicate the complex in vivo microenvironment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a microfluidic platform, the FBR-on-a-chip (FBROC), for modeling the immune cell response to implants.
• To mimic the native implant microenvironment, including tissue-vasculature interfaces and circulating immune cells.
• To enable physiologically relevant and individual-specific interrogation of FBR.

Main Methods:

• Development of a microfluidic platform (FBROC) to model implant-tissue-vasculature interactions.
• Incorporation of extracellular matrix (ECM)-like hydrogels to simulate the tissue microenvironment.
• Utilizing patient-derived peripheral blood mononuclear cells to assess inter-patient variability in FBR.

Main Results:

• The FBROC platform successfully models the cascade of immune cell events during FBR.
• Demonstrated that cytokine release (e.g., MCP-1) from hydrogels induces monocyte migration, mimicking inflammation.
• Revealed significant inter-patient differences in FBR using patient-derived cells.

Conclusions:

• The FBROC platform provides a novel and physiologically relevant tool for studying FBR.
• This platform can be used to test various implants, including biomaterials and engineered tissues.
• FBROC enables personalized monitoring and modulation strategies for FBR.