A Microfluidic Platform to Monitor Real-Time Effects of Extracellular Vesicle Exchange between Co-Cultured Cells across Selectively Permeable Barriers.

ABSTRACT: Exosomes and other extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a significant yet poorly understood role in cell-cell communication during homeostasis and various pathological conditions. Conventional in vitro and in vivo approaches for studying exosome/EV function depend on time-consuming and expensive vesicle purification methods to obtain sufficient vesicle populations. Moreover, the existence of various EV subtypes with distinct functional characteristics and submicron size makes their analysis challenging. To help address these challenges, we present here a unique chip-based approach for real-time monitoring of cellular EV exchange between physically separated cell populations. The extracellular matrix (ECM)-mimicking Matrigel is used to physically separate cell populations confined within micro

SUBMITTER: Mason HG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8998828 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature