NEWS ANALYSIS ORGAN-ON-CHIP TECH
When it comes to developing drugs to
fight disease there aren’t enough model
systems capable of identifying drug targets,
screening for toxicity or predicting the efficacy
of drug trials. All of which can lead to the
failure of drug trials and adds to the growing
expense of new drug development.
As a result, the pharmaceutical industry
is looking at techniques that will improve the
drug development process and one of these
involves organ-on-a-chip (OoC) technology,
that has the potential to revolutionise drug
development.
Imec in Belgium unveiled an organ-on-chip
platform last year that combined a high-density
multi-electrode array chip and a microfluidic
well plate to provide an environment where
cells can be cultured that are similar to the
human physiology.
Now researchers at the
Fraunhofer Institute for
Interfacial Engineering and
Biotechnology IGB have
succeeded in putting various
types of tissue onto chips.
The team have recreated the
“The pharmaceutical
industry is showing
a big interest in
retina-on-a-chip
technology.”
Prof.Peter Loskill
human retina in the form of a
retinal organoid and they also
have hopes that organ-on-a-chip
technology will open up the field of genderspecific
medicine.
The development of organ-on-a-chip
technology marks a huge advance for medical
research and offers a real alternative to animal
experimentation.
An OoC comprises of polymer chambers in
which small amounts of tissue cultures and
organoids are fed with nutrients via a system
of microchannels. Researchers use these live
cultures to test active ingredients, investigate
the etiology of diseases and research new
drug therapies.
Teaching a chip to see
ORGAN-ON-CHIP TECHNOLOGY IS A GAME CHANGER THAT COULD HELP TO
REVOLUTIONISE THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY. BY NEIL TYLER
OoC systems have been developed for a
broad range of tissue types, such as cardiac
muscle, liver, kidney and even brain tissue.
Prof. Peter Loskill at the Fraunhofer Institute
for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology
IGB in Stuttgart has been spearheading
this research and his team has pioneered a
number of unique developments, including the
recreation of white adipose tissue and human
retinal tissue on a chip. Now that scientists
have mastered the technique of placing a
whole variety of tissue cultures on a chip, the
next challenge is to accelerate
throughput of the various
substances being tested.
So-called organ-on-a-disk
systems will combine hundreds
of human tissue samples in
one format, helping to turn
this technology into a routine
procedure.
The latest breakthrough to
emerge from Loskill’s lab is a
retina-on-a-chip system, featuring the complex
stratified tissue of the human retina as an
organoid.
Working with partners from the University of
Tübingen, they have been able to differentiate
stem cells and incorporate them in a chip in
such a way that they recreate a multilayer
tissue. This tissue comprises, among other
things, light-sensitive rods and cones, retinal
pigment epithelium and ganglion cells, which
make up the optic nerve.
“When we shine light on the retina-on-achip,
we register an electrophysical signal in
the rods and cones,” Loskill explains. “And
now we’re working on a system with which we
can quantitatively measure these signals.”
Such a system will make it possible to
measure the extent to which a substance
influences the “visual capacity” of the retinaon
a-chip.
“The pharmaceutical industry is showing
a big interest in retina-on-a-chip technology,”
said Loskill. “Lots of modern drugs have
retinopathic side effects.” According Loskill
model systems are still rare in this field, apart
from animal models, which are only of limited
use, since the retina of the animals used
tends to have a different structure to that of
the human retina.
In addition, retina-on-a-chip technology
will also facilitate research into diseases of
the retina and the development of drugs to
treat conditions such as age-related macular
degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.
Loskill also expects organ-on-a-chip
technology to open up a further field of
research – that of sex-specific medicine.
“Many diseases manifest themselves in
different ways in male and female patients,”
he explains. “It’s an aspect that has not yet
received enough attention in medical research
and drug development.”
In the future, organ-on-a-chip systems
will enable researchers to investigate male
or female tissue separately. For example, a
female organ-on-a-chip system could be used
to simulate the menstrual cycle and observe
whether it has an impact on a specific disease
and potential drug therapies.
10 10 September 2019 www.newelectronics.co.uk
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