title: Skin integrated with perfusable vascular channels on a chip.
abstract: This paper describes a method for fabricating perfusable vascular channels coated with endothelial cells within a cultured skin-equivalent by fixing it to a culture device connected to an external pump and tubes. A histological analysis showed that vascular channels were constructed in the skin-equivalent, which showed a conventional dermal/epidermal morphology, and the endothelial cells formed tight junctions on the vascular channel wall. The barrier function of the skin-equivalent was also confirmed. Cell distribution analysis indicated that the vascular channels supplied nutrition to the skin-equivalent. Moreover, the feasibility of a skin-equivalent containing vascular channels as a model for studying vascular absorption was demonstrated by measuring test molecule permeation from the epidermal layer into the vascular channels. The results suggested that this skin-equivalent can be used for skin-on-a-chip applications including drug development, cosmetics testing, and studying skin biology.
authors.affiliation: Center for International Research on Integrative Biomedical Systems (CIBiS), Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuhito
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.affiliation: Center for International Research on Integrative Biomedical Systems (CIBiS), Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Morimoto
authors.affiliation: Center for International Research on Integrative Biomedical Systems (CIBiS), Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan; Takeuchi Biohybrid Innovation Project, Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO), Japan Science and Technology (JST), Komaba Open Laboratory (KOL) Room M202, 4-6-1, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan. Electronic address: takeuchi@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
mesh_terms: D002478:Cells, Cultured; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006801:Humans; D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation; D010477:Perfusion / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012867:Skin / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000254:growth & development*; D017768:Skin, Artificial; D018511:Systems Integration; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
keywords: Blood vessel; Percutaneous absorption; Perfusion; Skin model; Skin-equivalent; Vascular channel