Development of a Hybrid Polymer-Based Microfluidic Platform for Culturing Hepatocytes towards Liver-on-a-Chip...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Hepatology
• Microfluidics

Background:

• The liver is crucial for drug metabolism, making in vitro models essential for drug development.
• Current 2D cell models lack the physiological complexity of the human liver.
• Liver-on-a-chip platforms aim to replicate liver functions for more accurate drug testing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel hybrid microfluidic platform for culturing liver cells under dynamic conditions.
• To create a functional liver-on-a-chip system for drug metabolism investigations.
• To assess the viability and metabolic activity of cultured liver cells within the platform.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a hybrid microfluidic chip combining cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).
• Culture of Huh7 hepatoma cells on a collagen-coated microchannel within the hybrid platform.
• Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling to optimize device design and handling.
• Assessment of liver function through albumin and urea secretion rates and cell viability imaging.

Main Results:

• The hybrid COC-PDMS microfluidic chip successfully cultured Huh7 cells in a dynamic perfusion system.
• CFD modeling identified optimization strategies for device design and experimental procedures.
• The cultured liver cells maintained functionality and metabolic activity for 24 hours, evidenced by biomarker secretion.
• Results showed comparable biomarker levels to existing in vitro and 2D cell models.

Conclusions:

• The hybrid COC-PDMS microfluidic chip serves as a viable proof-of-concept for a liver-on-a-chip system.
• This platform supports the successful culture of Huh7 hepatoma cells, demonstrating potential for drug development.
• The developed microfluidic platform advances the creation of more physiologically relevant in vitro liver models.