Investigating oxygen transport efficiencies in precision-cut liver slice-based organ-on-a-chip devices

Christensen, Martin G.; Cawthorne, Chris; Dyer, Charlotte E.; Greenman, John; Pamme, Nicole

doi:10.1007/s10404-021-02434-x

Investigating oxygen transport efficiencies in precision-cut liver slice-based organ-on-a-chip devices

Christensen, Martin G.; Cawthorne, Chris; Dyer, Charlotte E.; Greenman, John; Pamme, Nicole

Authors

Martin G. Christensen

Chris Cawthorne

Dr Charlotte Dyer C.E.Dyer@hull.ac.uk
Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences

Professor John Greenman J.Greenman@hull.ac.uk
Professor of Tumour Immunology

Nicole Pamme

Abstract

Microfluidic ‘organ-on-a-chip’ devices hold great potential for better mimicking the continuous flow microenvironment experienced by tissue and cells in vivo, thereby ensuring realistic transport of nutrients and elimination of waste products. However, the mass transport of oxygen, which arguably is the most critical nutrient due to its inherently low solubility in water, is rarely assessed. To this aim, the suitability of various precision-cut liver slice (PCLS) microfluidic devices for the defined maintenance of oxygen mass transport were evaluated using COMSOL simulations, leading to the development of a novel, optimised design to provide defined in vivo oxygenation conditions within an organ-on-a-chip system. Simulations found that the proposed device was capable of maintaining 43% of the tissue slice volume within the physiological range of the liver against 18% for the best performing literature device. The optimal device architecture derived from the modelling was then fabricated and its operation confirmed with an LDH assay. These simulation results form the basis for a greater understanding of not just the challenges involved in designing organ-on-a-chip devices, but also highlight issues that would arise from the incorporation of additional organs, as research progresses towards complete human-on-a-chip model systems.

Citation

Christensen, M. G., Cawthorne, C., Dyer, C. E., Greenman, J., & Pamme, N. (2021). Investigating oxygen transport efficiencies in precision-cut liver slice-based organ-on-a-chip devices. Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, 25(4), Article 35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-021-02434-x

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Mar 1, 2021
Online Publication Date	Mar 23, 2021
Publication Date	2021-04
Deposit Date	Mar 24, 2021
Publicly Available Date	Mar 25, 2021
Journal	Microfluidics and Nanofluidics
Print ISSN	1613-4982
Electronic ISSN	1613-4990
Publisher	Springer Verlag
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	25
Issue	4
Article Number	35
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-021-02434-x
Keywords	Organ-on-chip; Liver metabolism; Oxygen tension; COMSOL modelling
Public URL	https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3744443

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