title: Microfluidic wound-healing assay to assess the regenerative effect of HGF on wounded alveolar epithelium.
abstract: We present a microfluidic epithelial wound-healing assay that allows characterization of the effect of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) on the regeneration of alveolar epithelium using a flow-focusing technique to create a regular wound in the epithelial monolayer. The phenotype of the epithelial cell was characterized using immunostaining for tight junction (TJ) proteins and transmission electron micrographs (TEMs) of cells cultured in the microfluidic system, a technique that is reported here for the first time. We demonstrate that alveolar epithelial cells cultured in a microfluidic environment preserve their phenotype before and after wounding. In addition, we report a wound-healing benefit induced by addition of HGF to the cell culture medium (19.2 vs. 13.5 μm h(-1) healing rate).
authors.affiliation: University of Berne, ARTORG Lung Regeneration Technologies Lab, Murtenstrasse 50, CH-3010 Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Felder
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sallin
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barbe
authors.forename: Beat
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Haenni
authors.forename: Amiq
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gazdhar
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Geiser
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Guenat
mesh_terms: D002460:Cell Line; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D004848:Epithelium / Q000187:drug effects*; D004867:Equipment Design; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010641:Phenotype; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000473:pathology; D012038:Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects; D020545:Respiratory Mucosa / Q000473:pathology; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor