Abstract:
Tissue chip technology has revolutionized biomedical applications and the medical science field for the past few decades. Currently, tissue chips are one of the most powerful research tools aiding in in vitro work to accurately predict the outcome of studies when compared to monolayer two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures. While 2D cell cultures held prominence for a long time, their lack of biomimicry has resulted in a transition to 3D cell cultures, including tissue chips technology, to overcome the discrepancies often seen in in vitro studies. Due to their wide range of applications, different organ systems have been studied over the years, one of which is the blood brain barrier (BBB) which is discussed in this review. The BBB is an incredible protective unit of the body, keeping out pathogens from entering the brain through vasculature. However, there are some microbes and certain diseases that disrupt the function of this barrier which can lead to detrimental outcomes. Over the past few years, various designs of the BBB have been proposed and modeled to study drug delivery and disease modeling on Earth. More recently, researchers have started to utilize tissue chips in space to study the effects of microgravity on human health. BBB tissue chips in space can be a tool to understand function mechanisms and therapeutics. This review addresses the limitations of monolayer cell culture which could be overcome with utilizing tissue chips technology. Current BBB models on Earth and how they are fabricated as well as what influences the BBB cell culture in tissue chips are discussed. Then, this article reviews how application of these technologies together with incorporating biosensors in space would be beneficial to help in predicting a more accurate physiological response in specific tissue or organ chips. Finally, the current platforms used in space and some solutions to overcome some shortcomings for future BBB tissue chip research are also discussed.
摘要:
在过去的几十年中,组织芯片技术彻底改变了生物医学应用和医学科学领域。目前,与单层二维(2D)细胞培养相比,组织芯片是帮助体外工作以准确预测研究结果的最强大的研究工具之一。虽然2D细胞培养物占据了很长时间,他们缺乏仿生技术导致了向3D细胞培养的过渡,包括组织芯片技术,克服在体外研究中经常出现的差异。由于其广泛的应用,多年来已经研究了不同的器官系统,其中之一是血脑屏障(BBB),本文对此进行了综述。血脑屏障是一个令人难以置信的身体保护单位,防止病原体通过脉管系统进入大脑。然而,有一些微生物和某些疾病会破坏这种屏障的功能,从而导致有害的后果。在过去的几年里,已经提出了BBB的各种设计并建模,以研究地球上的药物递送和疾病建模。最近,研究人员已经开始利用太空中的组织芯片来研究微重力对人类健康的影响。空间中的BBB组织芯片可以是理解功能机制和治疗方法的工具。这篇综述解决了利用组织芯片技术可以克服的单层细胞培养的局限性。讨论了地球上当前的BBB模型以及它们的制造方式以及影响组织芯片中BBB细胞培养的因素。然后,本文回顾了这些技术的应用以及在太空中整合生物传感器将如何有助于预测特定组织或器官芯片中更准确的生理反应。最后,还讨论了当前在太空中使用的平台以及克服未来BBB组织芯片研究的一些缺点的一些解决方案。