Recapitulating Complex Human Tissues using Organ-on-chip and Organoid Technologies

Drug discovery and development to date has relied on animal models, which are useful, but fail to resemble human physiology. One promising solution is the combination of microfluidics, biomaterials, and organoid technology to recapitulate 3D tissue structure and function in physiological environments. Such Organ-on-Chip models combine human genetic background, in vivo-like tissue structure, physiological functionality, and “vasculature-like” perfusion. We have developed a variety of OoCs that incorporate complex human 3D tissues and keep them viable and functional over multiple weeks, including “Tumor-on-chip”, “Retina-on-chip”, “Choroid-on-chip”, “Heart-on-chip”, “Pancreas-on-chip and “Adipose-on-chip” systems.  These complex human-relevant models put the research community now in a position to provide answers to questions that animal models were not and to explore new paradigms in drug development, personalized medicine, toxicity screening, and mechanistic research.
Peter Loskill^1,2,3
1 NMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute at the University of Tübingen,
Reutlingen, Germany
² Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Österbergstr.3, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
³ 3R-Center for In vitro Models and Alternatives to Animal Testing, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Österbergstr.3, 72074 Tübingen, Germany