title: A paper-based in vitro model for on-chip investigation of the human respiratory system.
abstract: Culturing cells at the air-liquid interface (ALI) is essential for creating functional in vitro models of lung tissues. We present the use of direct-patterned laser-treated hydrophobic paper as an effective semi-permeable membrane, ideal for ALI cell culture. The surface properties of the paper are modified through a selective CO2laser-assisted treatment to create a unique porous substrate with hydrophilic regions that regulate fluid diffusion and cell attachment. To select the appropriate model, four promising hydrophobic films were compared with each other in terms of gas permeability and long-term strength in an aqueous environment (wet-strength). Among the investigated substrates, parchment paper showed the fastest rate of oxygen permeability (3 times more than conventional transwell cell culture membranes), with the least variation in its dry and wet tensile strengths (124 MPa and 58 MPa, remaining unchanged after 7 days of submersion in PBS).The final paper-based platform provides an ideal, robust, and inexpensive device for generating monolayers of lung epithelial cells on-chip in a high-throughput fashion for disease modelling and in vitro drug testing.
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. bziaie@purdue.edu and Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Rahim
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rahimi
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology, School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Queen's Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK.
authors.forename: Su Su
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Htwe
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. bziaie@purdue.edu and Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1172-9353
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ochoa
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology, School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Queen's Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Donaldson
authors.affiliation: Indiana University School of Medicine, Division of Plastic Surgery, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zieger
authors.affiliation: Indiana University School of Medicine, Division of Plastic Surgery, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Rajiv
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sood
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA and Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tamayol
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA and Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA and Department of Bioindustrial Technologies, College of Animal Bioscience and Technology, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, Republic of Korea and Department of Physics, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21569, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khademhosseini
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology, School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Queen's Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK.
authors.forename: Amir M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ghaemmaghami
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. bziaie@purdue.edu and Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Babak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ziaie
mesh_terms: D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D010209:Paper; D010539:Permeability; D020545:Respiratory Mucosa / Q000166:cytology*; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation*; D017155:Wettability
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen