Human Organs-on-Chips: A Review of the State-of-the-Art, Current Prospects, and Future Challenges

Payam Zarrintaj; Mohammad Reza Saeb; Florian J Stadler; Mohsen Khodadadi Yazdi; Mojtaba Nasiri Nezhad; Shabnam Mohebbi; Farzad Seidi; Mohammad Reza Ganjali; Masoud Mozafari

doi:10.1002/adbi.202000526

Human Organs-on-Chips: A Review of the State-of-the-Art, Current Prospects, and Future Challenges

Adv Biol (Weinh). 2022 Jan;6(1):e2000526. doi: 10.1002/adbi.202000526. Epub 2021 Nov 27.

Authors

Payam Zarrintaj¹, Mohammad Reza Saeb², Florian J Stadler³, Mohsen Khodadadi Yazdi⁴, Mojtaba Nasiri Nezhad⁵, Shabnam Mohebbi⁶, Farzad Seidi⁷, Mohammad Reza Ganjali^{4

8}, Masoud Mozafari⁹

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemical Engineering, Oklahoma State University, 420 Engineering North, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA.
² Department of Polymer Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology, G. Narutowicza 11/12, Gdańsk, 80-233, Poland.
³ College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Polymer Science and Technology, Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China.
⁴ Center of Excellence in Electrochemistry, School of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, 1417466191, Iran.
⁵ Department of Chemical Engineering, Urmia University of Technology, Urmia, 57166-419, Iran.
⁶ Department of Chemical Engineering, Tabriz University, Tabriz, 51335-1996, Iran.
⁷ Joint International Research Lab of Lignocellulosic Functional Materials, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China.
⁸ Biosensor Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Molecular-Cellular Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 14395-1179, Iran.
⁹ Department of Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine, Faculty of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1449614535, Iran.

PMID: 34837667
DOI: 10.1002/adbi.202000526

Abstract

New emerging technologies, remarkably miniaturized 3D organ models and microfluidics, enable simulation of the real in vitro microenvironment ex vivo more closely. There are many fascinating features of innovative organ-on-a-chip (OOC) technology, including the possibility of integrating semipermeable and/or stretchable membranes, creating continuous perfusion of fluids into microchannels and chambers (while maintaining laminar flow regime), embedding microdevices like microsensors, microstimulators, micro heaters, or different cell lines, along with other 3D cell culture technologies. OOC systems are designed to imitate the structure and function of human organs, ranging from breathing lungs to beating hearts. This technology is expected to be able to revolutionize cell biology studies, personalized precision medicine, drug development process, and cancer diagnosis/treatment. OOC systems can significantly reduce the cost associated with tedious drug development processes and the risk of adverse drug reactions in the body, which makes drug screening more effective. The review mainly focus on presenting an overview of the several previously developed OOC systems accompanied by subjects relevant to pharmacy-, cancer-, and placenta-on-a-chip. The challenging issues and opportunities related to these systems are discussed, along with a future perspective for this technology.

Keywords: biomaterials; human-on-a-chip; microfluidic; organ-on-a-chip; tissue engineering.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Cell Culture Techniques, Three Dimensional*
Humans
Lab-On-A-Chip Devices*
Microfluidics