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Updated: Apr 9, 2026
The Multi-organ Chip - A Microfluidic Platform for Long-term Multi-tissue Coculture
Published on: April 28, 2015
Multimodal Multiorgan-on-a-Chip Platform for Probing Liver-Tumor Interactions and Advancing Prodrug Screening.
Dan Wang1, Yisong Huang1, Weijian Zhao1
1State Key Laboratory of Materials Low-Carbon Recycling, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cardiopulmonary-Cerebral Resuscitation Innovation and Translation, Center of Excellence for Environmental Safety and Biological Effects, Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Life Science, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China.
A new multimodal organ-on-a-chip platform enables real-time monitoring of prodrug metabolism and hepatotoxicity. This 3D tissue model advances in vitro drug evaluation and organ-organ interaction studies.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Pharmacology
- Toxicology
Background:
- Microphysiological systems require enhanced metabolic fidelity and 3D architecture for accurate drug testing.
- Current methods lack non-invasive, multi-parameter measurement capabilities for complex biological interactions.
- Investigating liver-tumor interactions and prodrug screening necessitates advanced in vitro models.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a multimodal organ-on-a-chip (OoC) platform for studying liver-tumor interactions.
- To enable streamlined prodrug screening and kinetic analysis.
- To provide a system for non-invasive, longitudinal monitoring of drug metabolism and toxicity.
Main Methods:
- A microfluidic circuit with pneumatic valves and microwell arrays was designed for 3D hepatic construct formation and perfusion.
- Real-time electrochemical sensing and automated solid-phase microextraction coupled to mass spectrometry (SPME-LC-MS) were integrated for pharmaceutical kinetic analysis.
- An impedance-based immunosensor was implemented for real-time assessment of drug-induced hepatotoxicity via albumin quantification.
Main Results:
- The platform successfully supported 3D hepatic construct maturation and dynamic perfusion.
- Prodrug metabolism and pharmaceutical kinetics were monitored non-intrusively using SPME-LC-MS.
- Drug-induced hepatotoxicity was quantified in real-time, with albumin levels measured across clinically relevant concentrations (1-80 µM).
Conclusions:
- The developed multimodal OoC platform offers a versatile approach for in vitro drug evaluation.
- The system effectively elucidates hepatic metabolic activation pathways and resultant antineoplastic efficacy.
- This work advances mechanistic organ-organ interaction studies and in vitro drug development.
