Fibroblast activation in response to TGFβ1 is modulated by co-culture with endothelial cells in a vascular organ-on-chip platform.

ABSTRACT: Background: Tissue fibrosis is a major healthcare burden that affects various organs in the body for which no effective treatments exist. An underlying, emerging theme across organs and tissue types at early stages of fibrosis is the activation of pericytes and/or fibroblasts in the perivascular space. In hepatic tissue, it is well known that liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (EC) help maintain the quiescence of stellate cells, but whether this phenomenon holds true for other endothelial and perivascular cell types is not well studied. Methods: The goal of this work was to develop an organ-on-chip microvascular model to study the effect of EC co-culture on the activation of perivascular cells perturbed by the pro-fibrotic factor TGFβ1. A high-throughput microfluidic platform

SUBMITTER: Luu RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10421749 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature