In vitro model for bone remodelling with microfluidics
2023
Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Healthy bone tissues are maintained in a dynamic equilibrium by the continuous process of bone remodelling. Disruption of this process can lead to serious diseases such as osteoporosis. However, there is currently no comprehensive in vitro model that can represent the complex process of bone remodelling.
In this context, microfluidic chips represent promising approaches. In particular, their ability to create dynamic culture conditions is crucial for the in vitro formation of bone tissue. In this study, a novel scaffold-free three-dimensional microfluidic co-culture model was presented that mimicked the process of bone remodelling.
The method used human mesenchymal stem cells that differentiated into the osteoblast lineage and assembled into structured bone tissue. This tissue resembled the trabecular structures in human bone in shape and dimension. By integrating human monocytes, it was also possible to generate osteoclast-like cells that were able to interact with the bone tissue.
To mimic physiological conditions, computer-based models were developed to analyse the shear stresses and strains generated in the tissue due to fluid flow. In addition, an experimental arrangement was developed that allowed the cells to be cultured on the chip over a long period of time (up to 35 days). This arrangement thereby enabled advantages such as continuous fluid flow, minimal risk of air entrapment, easy exchange of the culture medium in the incubator and the option of real-time imaging of live cells.
The established on-chip co-culture represents a significant advance in the development of in vitro models of bone remodelling. In the future, these models will help to test the efficacy of drugs and gain a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of bone tissue changes.
Osteogenesis and osteoclastogenesis on a chip: Engineering a self-assembling 3D coculture
M.A.M. Vis
Added on: 08-29-2023
[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S875632822300145X?via%3Dihub[2] https://www.pcrm.org/news/ethical-science/human-bone-chip-future-personalized-medicine-osteoporosis
