Microfluidic environment for high density hepatocyte culture.
We present a microfluidic bioreactor for culturing high-density arrays of hepatocytes in a tissue-like micro-architecture. The microfluidic environment mimicked physiological liver mass transport, enabling sustained culture of high density cells (>2,000 cells/mm(2)) without nutrient limitation for over 1 week. The key feature of this design was a microporous microfluidic barrier that formed a sieved-pocket to concentrate cells during loading. Nutrient depletion within the cell mass was avoided by maintaining a continuous flow of medium (10 microl/day) that diffused across the porous barrier. Human hepatoma cells (HepG2/C3A) remained viable and functional as demonstrated by fluorescent viability assays and secretion of albumin for the one-week culture period.
Zhang
Mimi Y
MY
UCSF/UC Berkeley Joint Graduate Group in Bioengineering, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Lee
Philip J
PJ
Hung
Paul J
PJ
Johnson
Terry
T
Lee
Luke P
LP
Mofrad
Mohammed R K
MR
D019149:Bioreactors; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002470:Cell Survival; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*