Host: The Japanese Society of Toxicology
Name : The 51st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Toxicology
Date : July 03, 2024 - July 05, 2024
Cell culture using microfluidic devices can create an environment similar to that of the body because it can provide a three-dimensional structure and mechanical stimuli compared to the static environment of a flat culture dish. Therefore, with the aim of realizing a vascular model useful for drug discovery and disease treatment, we are trying to construct a cell culture microdevice that can simulate the phenomena occurring in blood vessels as accurately as possible. So far, they have developed a silicone rubber device that provides mechanical stimulation to simulate blood flow and a gelatin device for constructing three-dimensional blood vessels using primary human cells.
In terms of applications for these devices, they have developed a model of pulmonary hypertension, an intractable disease in which blood pressure rises due to blocked arteries, in the cell stretching device. This device could contribute to the development of therapeutic agents for this condition, which is aggravated by mechanical stimulation. This is an attempt to construct in vitro by mechanical stimulation a biological phenomenon that cannot be constructed by chemical stimulation alone. As for applied research using gelatin devices, we are also investigating the construction of a 3D cancer model with blood vessels and stroma by co-culturing a vascular network and oral cancer-derived cells in the device, and verifying the effect of radiotherapy on cancer. In the presentation, I will show the results of these studies and discuss the research possibilities opened up by the new culture method.
