OrganoPlate Micro-fluidic Microvessel Culture and Analysis

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cell Biology
• Microfluidics

Background:

• Endothelial cells in microvasculature are central to inflammation and thrombosis in microvascular diseases.
• Traditional 2D cell cultures limit the study of complex inflammatory processes.
• A more physiologically relevant model is needed to understand microvascular inflammation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a protocol for culturing human microvessels in a 3D microenvironment.
• To investigate the inflammatory phenotype of microvessels using a microvessel-on-a-chip system.
• To optimize sample collection for detailed lipidomic analysis.

Main Methods:

• Endothelial cells were cultured as 3D microvessels within the OrganoPlate.
• Microvessels were stimulated with tumor necrosis factor alpha to induce an inflammatory response.
• A protocol for sample collection was optimized for liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of bioactive lipids.

Main Results:

• The 3D microvessel-on-a-chip model successfully cultured and maintained human microvessels.
• Inflammation was induced in the microvessels using tumor necrosis factor alpha.
• The optimized protocol enabled sensitive detection and quantification of bioactive lipids.

Conclusions:

• Three-dimensional microvessels-on-a-chip provide a superior model for studying microvascular inflammation.
• This approach yields more informative metabolic readouts of bioactive lipids than conventional methods.
• The developed protocol facilitates advanced lipidomic studies in a physiologically relevant context.