A method to generate perfusable physiologic-like vascular channels within a liver-on-chip model.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Organ-on-a-chip technology
• Vascularized tissue models

Background:

• The human vasculature is crucial for nutrient transport, waste removal, and homeostasis.
• Integrating vasculature into organs-on-chip enhances physiological relevance and reduces the gap between research and clinical outcomes.
• Vascularized models offer more realistic drug testing in preclinical development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a method for generating perfusable vascular channels in organs-on-chip.
• To design and create vascularized liver sinusoid-on-chip systems with and without the space of Disse.
• To investigate the impact of the space of Disse on hepatic functionality.

Main Methods:

• Developed a technique to create perfusable vascular channels with circular cross-sections within organs-on-chip.
• Fabricated liver sinusoid-on-chip systems, some incorporating a recreated space of Disse.
• Compared hepatic functionality (e.g., albumin production) between models with and without the space of Disse.

Main Results:

• Successfully generated perfusable vascular channels without interposing material.
• Vascularized liver models with the space of Disse showed enhanced hepatic functionality compared to those without.
• The presence of the Disse layer improved albumin production by hepatocytes.

Conclusions:

• The developed technique enables the creation of advanced vascularized liver-on-a-chip models.
• Recreating the space of Disse is critical for enhancing liver function in vitro.
• These findings support the use of microfluidic vascularized models for drug testing and multiorgan-on-chip systems.