Biomimetic epithelium/endothelium on chips

Abstract

Epithelium and endothelium, occupying a significant proportion of cells in the human body, play a crucial role in maintaining organs’ normal structure and function. Various methods have been employed to study the physiology and pathology of epithelium and endothelium. However, these conventional methods, such as animal trials and two-dimensional (2D) cell culture, fail to precisely simulate the complex biology of the human body due to the species difference and lack of the native microenvironment in human systems, which is essential for cell culture. To overcome these limitations, epithelium/endothelium on chips have been proposed, which can mimic the pathophysiology of native human systems in a controllable way. This review introduces the recent progress in epithelium/endothelium on chips, aiming to provide a comprehensive review of the fabrication and application of this technology. We first depict the chips’ basic components, materials, and fabrication techniques. Then, we focus on different chip types, from single cell-on-chip, single organ/tissue-on-chip, to multi-organs-on-chip. After that, we describe the biomedical applications such as in vitro study of the physiology and interaction of organs, construction of disease models, and drug development. Finally, the recent challenges and future outlook of epithelium/endothelium on chips are discussed.

Keywords

• Microfluidics
• Organ-on-a-chip
• Epithelium
• Endothelium
• Biomedical application