Microcirculation-on-a-Chip: A Microfluidic Platform for Assaying Blood- and Lymphatic-Vessel Permeability.

ABSTRACT: We developed a microfluidic model of microcirculation containing both blood and lymphatic vessels for examining vascular permeability. The designed microfluidic device harbors upper and lower channels that are partly aligned and are separated by a porous membrane, and on this membrane, blood vascular endothelial cells (BECs) and lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) were cocultured back-to-back. At cell-cell junctions of both BECs and LECs, claudin-5 and VE-cadherin were detected. The permeability coefficient measured here was lower than the value reported for isolated mammalian venules. Moreover, our results showed that the flow culture established in the device promoted the formation of endothelial cell-cell junctions, and that treatment with histamine, an inflammation-promoting substance,

SUBMITTER: Sato M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4558006 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature