Abstract

Lock-and-Play Bioreactor Platforms for Advanced Microphysiological Systems

Daniel Carvalho, Research Fellow, MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired Regenerative Medicine, Maastricht University

Over the past two decades, organ-on-a-chip (OoC) devices have enabled major breakthroughs as surrogates of human tissues for a wide range of biomedical applications, from precise medicine to predicative drug screening platforms. In recent years, the incorporation of complex, 3D tissue-specific organoids into OoC devices has been shown to be synergetic and desired to create more physiologically relevant 3D in vitro models. However, the addition of such organoids has increased the complexity of already existing complex microfluidic systems.  New and more versatile designs are urgently needed to facilitate chip operability, increase throughput and the success rate of complex, 3D cell cultures. Our lab has developed a new line of bioreactor platforms to facilitate the culture and screening of embryonic stem cell-derived thyroid follicles. The developed platforms integrate a reversible fastening concept entitled Lock-and-Play, which allows devices to be quickly opened and closed before, after and during operation, such that organoids can be directly accessed whenever needed. This presentation will provide an overview about these devices and future directions towards the development of next-generation OoC platforms that can find applications across the biomedical field, including for near-weightlessness and spaceflight studies. In doing so, initial studies on how the developed OoC platform can be easily modified to further include more advanced in vitro 3D models such as biofabricated ones, so that their adoption in the Biofabrication and 3D cell culture facilities that are being developed at ISS can be facilitated.