Benedikt Scheidecker, Stéphane Poulain, Masahiro Sugimoto, Taketomo Kido, Takumi Kawanishi, Atsushi Miyajima, Soo Hyeon Kim, Hiroshi Arakawa, Yukio Kato, Masaki Nishikawa, Mathieu Danoy, Yasuyuki Sakai, Eric Leclerc
Availability of hepatic tissue for the investigation of metabolic processes is severely limited. While primary hepatocytes or animal models are widely used in pharmacological applications, a change in methodology towards more sustainable and ethical assays is highly desirable. Stem cell derived hepatic cells are generally regarded as a viable alternative for the above model systems, if current limitations in functionality and maturation can be overcome. By combining microfluidic organ-on-a-chip technology with individually differentiated, multicellular hepatic tissue fractions, we aim to improve overall functionality of hepatocyte-like cells, as well as evaluate cellular composition and interactions with non-parenchymal cell populations towards the formation of mature liver tissue...
March 6, 2024: Biofabrication