Abstract

The time and cost-intensive process of topical pharmaceutical and cosmetic development involves pre-clinical evaluation in animals, ex-vivo and static in-vitro models, for determining their pharmacokinetic profile and safety, prior to clinical testing in humans. However, these models considerably fail to mimic the in-vivo tissue microarchitecture, extracellular matrix-cell interactions and also lack perfusion. The present research endeavor, thereby, aims to develop an alternative-to-animal, perfusive in-vitro ‘Skin-on-a-chip’ technology, by integrating microfluidics and three dimensional (3D) culture methods. This high-throughput amenable platform, designed and fabricated using poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) by lithography (PCT Patent Application No.: PCT/IN2017/000071 and Indian Patent Application No. 201621000456), has been demonstrated to support the culture of primary dermal fibroblasts in 3D conditions, as evaluated by live-dead staining and confocal microscopy. Organotypic and perfusive 3D co-culture, involving dermal fibroblasts and epidermal keratinocyte cell line, has been established in-situ for the duration of 7 days, using CellTracker™ dyes and confocal imaging. The platform is anticipated to serve as a novel pre-clinical tool for accelerating screening and development of pharmaceuticals (topical and transdermal), cosmetics and skin care products. It also possesses the potential to be utilized for biocompatibility testing of materials, studying skin biology, wound healing mechanisms and pathogenesis-related research.