Microfluidic-Based Reconstitution of Functional Lymphatic Microvasculature: Elucidating the Role of Lymphatics in Health and Disease.

ABSTRACT: The knowledge of the blood microvasculature and its functional role in health and disease has grown significantly attributable to decades of research and numerous advances in cell biology and tissue engineering; however, the lymphatics (the secondary vascular system) has not garnered similar attention, in part due to a lack of relevant in vitro models that mimic its pathophysiological functions. Here, a microfluidic-based approach is adopted to achieve precise control over the biological transport of growth factors and interstitial flow that drive the in vivo growth of lymphatic capillaries (lymphangiogenesis). The engineered on-chip lymphatics with in vivo-like morphology exhibit tissue-scale functionality with drainage rates of interstitial proteins and molecules comparable to in vivo st

SUBMITTER: Serrano JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10837354 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature