Fabricating Microfluidic Co-Cultures of Immortalized Cell Lines Uncovers Robust Design Principles for the Simultaneous Formation of Patterned, Vascularized, and Stem Cell-Derived Adipose Tissue.

ABSTRACT: In vitro co-culture processes supporting simultaneous formation of vessel networks alongside differentiation toward mature parenchymal tissue have numerous clinical and agricultural applications but remain unrealized due to contrasting culture requirements. Of specific interest is lab-grown vascularized adipose tissue to study diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular diseases, and to advance cultivated meat technologies. A microfluidic 3D hydrogel culture device capable of supporting live-imaging of fluorescent reporter cell lines and generating counter-current gradients of vasculogenic and adipogenic growth factors is reported. For the first time, experimental conditions capable of reproducibly forming diverse microvascular networks from telomerase immortalized endothelia

SUBMITTER: Murphy AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12366273 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature