Organ-on-a-chip system
Microfluidics gained momentum as the future backbone of biotechnology and life sciences because it scales down assays to the order of magnitude of the cell, amplifying signals that would be otherwise impossible to detect.
Organ-on-a-chip system was born from this principle. Conventional cell culture handles cells in bulk and in an oversimplified environment that does not resemble the human body. When we move to animal studies, the models are complex but not equivalent. Adding microfluidics to cell culture increases complexity without losing control. You can co-culture human cell types usually found together in the body in nearby chambers so the secreted molecules can interact with the cells in a timely manner. You can add flow to mimic bodily fluids. You can add stretch or compression to mimic mechanical forces.
The benefits are only starting to be explored, but we, as the MIC, have a lot of experience in implementing a complex organ-on-a-chip system for a variety of applications in the frame of European projects.
Alternative, heart-on-chip to elucidate air pollutant effects
The project Alternative is part of the Green Deal and focuses on understanding how air pollutants affect the cardiac tissue in a heart-on-chip model. We developed a microfluidics platform so our partners can culture cardiac tissue in bioreactors with sensors.
The platform allows them to run four bioreactor cultures in parallel in an automated manner, so the experiments can run for long stretches of time. Then, they expose the cells to known air pollutants and analyse the readings of the sensors (GA no. 101037090).
Tumor-LN-on-CHIP, lymph node-on-chip for metastasis studies
Metastasis is a major problem in cancer patients. Cancer cells can use the lymphatic system to spread and colonize other parts of the body, but the mechanisms behind it are not well understood. And that’s the goal of the Tumor-LN-on-Chip project (GA no. 953234).
To study motile cells, being close to the microscope was a must. However, most microscope incubator chambers are not designed to fit microfluidics equipment. So, we designed a setup that would allow our collaborators to be independent of the CO2 incubator and the environmental chamber of microscopes as well, while keeping ideal culturing conditions for cell culture.
With it, our partners managed to culture lung cancer cells for 16 days outside the incubator.
LIFESAVER, placenta-on-chip to test effects of chemical pollutants on fetuses
The project LIFESAVER is also part of the Green Deal, but focuses on the communication between mother and fetus in a placenta-on-chip model to understand how toxic chemicals cross the placental barrier (GA no. 101036702).
The MIC developed a barrier platform that allows them to recirculate media independently, measure O2 levels, and collect samples in a time-resolved manner. All on both sides. Communication between the mother side and the fetus side happens in a specialized membrane in a organ-on-a-chip system developed by one of the project partners.