Lung on a Chip Development from Off-Stoichiometry Thiol–Ene Polymer
Date
2021
Authors
Rimsa, Roberts
Galvanovskis, Artis
Plume, Janis
Rumnieks, Felikss
Grindulis, Karlis
Paidere, Gunita
Erentraute, Sintija
Mozolevskis, Gatis
Abols, Arturs
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI
Abstract
Current in vitro models have significant limitations for new respiratory disease research and rapid drug repurposing. Lung on a chip (LOAC) technology offers a potential solution to these problems. However, these devices typically are fabricated from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), which has small hydrophobic molecule absorption, which hinders the application of this technology in drug repurposing for respiratory diseases. Off-stoichiometry thiol–ene (OSTE) is a promising alternative material class to PDMS. Therefore, this study aimed to test OSTE as an alternative material for LOAC prototype development and compare it to PDMS. We tested OSTE material for light transmission, small molecule absorption, inhibition of enzymatic reactions, membrane particle, and fluorescent dye absorption. Next, we microfabricated LOAC devices from PDMS and OSTE, functionalized with human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) and A549 cell lines, and analyzed them with immunofluorescence. We demonstrated that compared to PDMS, OSTE has similar absorption of membrane particles and effect on enzymatic reactions, significantly lower small molecule absorption, and lower light transmission. Consequently, the immunofluorescence of OSTE LOAC was significantly impaired by OSTE optical properties. In conclusion, OSTE is a promising material for LOAC, but optical issues should be addressed in future LOAC prototypes to benefit from the material properties.--//--This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license.
Description
Institute of Solid-State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART2.
Finally, we would like to thank Biol. Kaspars Tars from Latvian Biomedical research and study center for giving us the opportunity to participate in this consortium and contribute to Latvian scientists’ effort in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords
lung on a chip , organ on a chip , off-stoichiometry thiol–ene , PDMS , Research Subject Categories::NATURAL SCIENCES:Physics