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A Lab-On-A-Chip Platform for Stimulating Osteocyte Mechanotransduction and Analyzing Functional Outcomes of Bone Remodeling
Published on: May 21, 2020
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Cellular considerations for optimizing bone cell culture and remodeling in a lab-on-a-chip platform.
Sharon L Truesdell1, Estee L George1, Marnie M Saunders1
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, USA.
Biotechniques
|March 10, 2020
Summary
This study presents a novel lab-on-a-chip platform for long-term bone cell culture, enabling precise quantification of bone remodeling processes. The optimized system supports osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and osteocytes for advanced bone research.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cell Biology
- Tissue Engineering
Background:
- Bone remodeling is a complex biological process crucial for skeletal health.
- Existing in vitro models have limitations in long-term culturing and functional assessment of bone cells.
- A need exists for advanced platforms to study bone cell interactions and mechanical influences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and optimize a lab-on-a-chip platform for long-term culture of bone cells (osteoblasts, osteoclasts, osteocytes).
- To establish functional assays for quantifying bone formation and resorption within the chip.
- To provide a foundation for a multicellular organ-on-a-chip system for bone research.
Main Methods:
- Optimization of cell seeding densities, feeding schedules, and culture durations for bone cells.
- Implementation of functional activity assays to measure bone formation and resorption.
- Assessment of chip sterility, cytotoxicity, and leakage over extended culture periods in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chips.
Main Results:
- Successful long-term culturing of osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and osteocytes for up to 7 weeks.
- Validated functional assays for quantifying bone remodeling markers.
- Demonstrated the system's suitability for assessing the effects of mechanical stimulation on bone cells.
Conclusions:
- The developed lab-on-a-chip platform enables robust, long-term bone cell culture and functional analysis.
- This system facilitates the study of soluble mediators in bone remodeling and the impact of mechanical forces on osteocytes.
- It serves as a foundational step towards creating more complex multicellular organ-on-a-chip models for bone tissue engineering and disease modeling.
