Microfluidic environment for high density hepatocyte culture

• Published in: Biomedical microdevices Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 117 - 121
• Main Authors: Zhang, Mimi Y., Lee, Philip J., Hung, Paul J., Johnson, Terry, Lee, Luke P., Mofrad, Mohammed R. K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01-02-2008; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biological and Medical Physics; Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering; Biomedical research; Biophysics; Bioreactors; Cell culture; Cell Culture Techniques - instrumentation; Cell Survival; Engineering; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Fluid dynamics; Hepatocytes - cytology; Hepatocytes - physiology; Humans; Liver; Microelectronics; Microfluidic Analytical Techniques - instrumentation; Nanotechnology; Cell culture; Bioreactor; Hepatocytes; Microfluidics
• ISSN: 1387-2176; 1572-8781
• DOI: 10.1007/s10544-007-9116-9

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 μl/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.