Release date: 2010-06-29
According to the June 25 issue of Science, American scientists have created a chip-like lung, such as an eraser, that mimics many of the features of the boundary between epithelial cells and blood vessels that pass through the entire lung. This system may help researchers to understand very accurately how lung organs work, and this information is difficult to obtain from cell culture or animal studies. The researchers said that "chip lung" is expected to test the effects of new drugs and the effects of lung toxins in humans, and to end the animal experiments required for these tests.
Researchers at Harvard University's Weiss Bioengineering Institute use "vascular lungs" made of vascular cells to be composed of lung cells, osmotic membranes, and capillaries. Human cells are aligned on the permeable membrane of the mesh (one side is the lung cells). On the other hand, blood cells), the microchannels made of permeable membranes are about 400 microns long and 70 microns wide (the diameter of human hair is about 100 microns), allowing air or liquid to flow around the membrane. When the chip is connected to a mechanical pump and a regulating valve, it simulates the breathing activity of the human lungs.
Researchers have shown that this "chip lung" can accurately mimic many of the functions of the rat's lungs, including the response of the lungs after inhaling nanoparticles.
There are two main types of drug testing techniques: one is to use an oversimplified cell culture mode, which is to culture cells in a solid plastic container, then expose them to different drugs and test their response; Using animal experiments, scientists use mice to test the effectiveness and safety of drugs, but this method is time consuming and labor intensive.
The researchers said that in order to mimic the small and precise passage of the human lungs, they used circuit manufacturing to create a computer microchip that allowed researchers to better manipulate living organisms such as cells. The results of this study have important demonstrations for rebuilding human cells in the laboratory, and can accelerate the development of new drugs by reducing the reliance on existing models (the cost of testing a single substance is more than $2 million).
Harvard researchers are currently working on other "organ chips," such as the intestines, heart, and kidneys, and they hope to eventually integrate different organs on the chip to completely abandon animal experiments in drug testing and toxicology testing.
(Source: Technology Daily)
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