Creating Vascularized Tissue Constructs in Microfluidic AssaysThursday, 7 July 2016 at 10:00  Add to Calendar ▼SELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.comVascularization is critical to most tissues, yet developing a perfusable microvascular network within an on-chip tissue construct has proved challenging. Several approaches have been developed in recent years including the casting of networks within a hydrogel matrix that can subsequently be lined with vascular cells, and the growth of networks from cells seeded either on the surface of a hydrogel by angiogenesis, or from cells suspended in gel by a process akin to vasculogenesis. Our previous work has followed the second path in producing networks within microfluidic platforms that can be perfused within several days of seeding. These networks can be grown in various matrices either in co-culture with other cell types such as fibroblasts, myoblasts or osteoblasts, or in isolation. To date, the best results have been obtained by co-culture with normal lung fibroblasts in separate gel regions, using a fibrin-based extracellular matrix. Recently, these systems have been scaled up to mm-sized regions and the fibroblasts are co-seeded with the endothelial cells, leading to vascularized and perfusable networks that are perfusable for three weeks with potential applications for in vitro organ-on-chip systems. Creating Vascularized Tissue Constructs in Microfluidic AssaysThursday, 7 July 2016 at 10:00 Add to Calendar ▼SELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.comVascularization is critical to most tissues, yet developing a perfusable microvascular network within an on-chip tissue construct has proved challenging. Several approaches have been developed in recent years including the casting of networks within a hydrogel matrix that can subsequently be lined with vascular cells, and the growth of networks from cells seeded either on the surface of a hydrogel by angiogenesis, or from cells suspended in gel by a process akin to vasculogenesis. Our previous work has followed the second path in producing networks within microfluidic platforms that can be perfused within several days of seeding. These networks can be grown in various matrices either in co-culture with other cell types such as fibroblasts, myoblasts or osteoblasts, or in isolation. To date, the best results have been obtained by co-culture with normal lung fibroblasts in separate gel regions, using a fibrin-based extracellular matrix. Recently, these systems have been scaled up to mm-sized regions and the fibroblasts are co-seeded with the endothelial cells, leading to vascularized and perfusable networks that are perfusable for three weeks with potential applications for in vitro organ-on-chip systems. |
Add to Calendar ▼2016-07-07 00:00:002016-07-08 00:00:00Europe/LondonOrgan-on-a-Chip World Congress and 3D-Culture 2016Organ-on-a-Chip World Congress and 3D-Culture 2016 in Boston, USABoston, USASELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com
