Paper devices have recently attracted considerable attention as a class of cost-effective cell culture substrates for various biomedical applications.The paper biomaterial can be used to partially mimic the in vivo ce...Paper devices have recently attracted considerable attention as a class of cost-effective cell culture substrates for various biomedical applications.The paper biomaterial can be used to partially mimic the in vivo cell microenvironments mainly due to its natural three-dimensional characteristic.The paper-based devices provide precise control over their structures as well as cell distributions,allowing recapitulation of certain interactions between the cells and the extracellular matrix.These features have shown great potential for the development of normal and diseased human tissue models.In this review,we discuss the fabrication of paper-based devices for in vitro tissue modeling,as well as the applications of these devices toward drug screening and personalized medicine.It is believed that paper as a biomaterial will play an essential role in the field of tissue model engineering due to its unique performances,such as good biocompatibility,eco-friendliness,cost-effectiveness,and amenability to various biodesign and manufacturing needs.展开更多
The risks and damages related to the use of products, technologies and services of sanitary interest can be due to defects or manufacturing failures. Certain products already contain a certain degree of risk, which re...The risks and damages related to the use of products, technologies and services of sanitary interest can be due to defects or manufacturing failures. Certain products already contain a certain degree of risk, which requires strict quality control in their production, distribution and use, as well as in the disposal of their waste in the environment. With continuous development in science and technology, medical devices must undergo intradermal irritation and testing for sensitization, cytotoxicity, and acute systemic toxicity. In health care, biotechnology aims to provide technology-based products or processes related to energy, food, and health, which are capable of stimulating new businesses, expanding exports, integrating the value chain and stimulating new demands for innovative products and processes, taking into account health policies. The present article was prepared by a bibliographical survey of the electronic databases PubMed, Lilacs, and Bireme. Cell culture testing can be successfully employed, as it is reproducible, rapid, sensitive, and financially accessible for performing in vitro toxicity testing. Thus, it has been possible to optimize the development phase of new products by decreasing animal use or even replacing them in certain tests. Some in vitro assays validated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the area of health products have already replaced animal testing.展开更多
The selection of the most motile and functionally competent sperm is an essential basis for in vitro fertilization(IVF)and normal embryonic development.Widely adopted clinical approaches for sperm sample processing in...The selection of the most motile and functionally competent sperm is an essential basis for in vitro fertilization(IVF)and normal embryonic development.Widely adopted clinical approaches for sperm sample processing intensely rely on centrifugation and wash steps that may induce mechanical damage and oxidative stress to sperm.Although a few microfluidic sperm sorting devices may avoid these adverse effects by exploiting intrinsic guidance mechanisms of sperm swimming,none of these approaches have been fully validated by clinical-grade assessment criteria.In this study,a microfluidic sperm sorting device that enables the selection of highly motile and functional sperm via their intrinsic thermotaxis is presented.Bioinspired by the temperature microenvironment in the fallopian tube during natural sperm selection,a microfluidic device with controllable temperature gradients along the sperm separation channel was designed and fabricated.This study investigated the optimal temperature conditions for human sperm selection and fully characterized thermotaxis-selected sperm with 45 human sperm samples.Results indicated that a temperature range of 35–36.5℃along the separation channel significantly improves human sperm motility rate((85.25±6.28)%vs.(60.72±1.37)%;P=0.0484),increases normal sperm morphology rate((16.42±1.43)%vs.(12.55±0.88)%;P<0.0001),and reduces DNA fragmentation((7.44±0.79)%vs.(10.36±0.72)%;P=0.0485)compared to the nonthermotaxis group.Sperm thermotaxis is species-specific,and selected mouse sperm displayed the highest motility in response to a temperature range of 36–37.5℃ along the separation channel.Furthermore,IVF experiments indicated that the selected sperm permitted an increased fertilization rate and improved embryonic development from zygote to blastocyst.This microfluidic thermotaxic selection approach will be translated into clinical practice to improve the IVF success rate for patients with oligozoospermia and asthenozoospermia.展开更多
Neurodegeneration is a catastrophic process that develops progressive damage leading to functional andstructural loss of the cells of the nervous system and is among the biggest unavoidable problems of our age.Animalm...Neurodegeneration is a catastrophic process that develops progressive damage leading to functional andstructural loss of the cells of the nervous system and is among the biggest unavoidable problems of our age.Animalmodels do not reflect the pathophysiology observed in humans due to distinct differences between the neuralpathways,gene expression patterns,neuronal plasticity,and other disease-related mechanisms in animals andhumans.Classical in vitro cell culture models are also not sufficient for pre-clinical drug testing in reflecting thecomplex pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases.Today,modern,engineered techniques are applied to developmulticellular,intricate in vitro models and to create the closest microenvironment simulating biological,biochemical,and mechanical characteristics of the in vivo degenerating tissue.In THIS review,the capabilities and shortcomings ofscaffold-based and scaffold-free techniques,organoids,and microfluidic models that best reflect neurodegeneration invitro in the biomimetic framework are discussed.展开更多
Mechanical stretch plays an important role in the control of cardiomyocyte behavior,as well as in the study of the mechanisms of cardiovascular function and pathology.The complexity involved in biological systems in v...Mechanical stretch plays an important role in the control of cardiomyocyte behavior,as well as in the study of the mechanisms of cardiovascular function and pathology.The complexity involved in biological systems in vivo has created a need for better in vitro techniques,thus a variety of cell stretching devices have been developed for a deeper understanding of cellular responses to strain.In this review,we introduce the design,functionality,and characteristics of multiple types of cell stretching devices from two and three dimensions,then discuss the research progress of promoting cardiomyogenic differentiation of stem cells by external stretching and its application in cardiac tissue engineering.展开更多
Given the continuous and growing demand for point of care(POC)diagnostic tests,attention has been shifted toward integration and miniaturization of laboratory protocols into“sample-in-answer-out”devices.Microfluidic...Given the continuous and growing demand for point of care(POC)diagnostic tests,attention has been shifted toward integration and miniaturization of laboratory protocols into“sample-in-answer-out”devices.Microfluidic technologies have been considered an ideal solution to address the requirements of POC diagnostics since many laboratory functions can be miniaturized and incorporated onto a single integrated chip.In this review,we summarize the advances of integrated microfluidic devices for POC diagnostics in the last 3 years.Particularly,we summarize current materials used for microfluidic chip fabrication,discuss the innovation of versatile integrated microfluidic devices,especially the strategies for simplifying sample preparation in manual or self-driven systems,and new detection methods of microfluidic chips.In addition,we describe new integrated microfluidic devices for POC diagnostics of protein-targeted immunodiagnostics,nucleic acid molecular tests,and small molecule metabolites analysis.We also provide future perspectives and current challenges for clinical translation and commercialization of these microfluidic technologies.展开更多
基金This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health(R00CA201603,R21EB025270,R21EB026175,R01EB028143)the Brigham Research Institute.
文摘Paper devices have recently attracted considerable attention as a class of cost-effective cell culture substrates for various biomedical applications.The paper biomaterial can be used to partially mimic the in vivo cell microenvironments mainly due to its natural three-dimensional characteristic.The paper-based devices provide precise control over their structures as well as cell distributions,allowing recapitulation of certain interactions between the cells and the extracellular matrix.These features have shown great potential for the development of normal and diseased human tissue models.In this review,we discuss the fabrication of paper-based devices for in vitro tissue modeling,as well as the applications of these devices toward drug screening and personalized medicine.It is believed that paper as a biomaterial will play an essential role in the field of tissue model engineering due to its unique performances,such as good biocompatibility,eco-friendliness,cost-effectiveness,and amenability to various biodesign and manufacturing needs.
文摘The risks and damages related to the use of products, technologies and services of sanitary interest can be due to defects or manufacturing failures. Certain products already contain a certain degree of risk, which requires strict quality control in their production, distribution and use, as well as in the disposal of their waste in the environment. With continuous development in science and technology, medical devices must undergo intradermal irritation and testing for sensitization, cytotoxicity, and acute systemic toxicity. In health care, biotechnology aims to provide technology-based products or processes related to energy, food, and health, which are capable of stimulating new businesses, expanding exports, integrating the value chain and stimulating new demands for innovative products and processes, taking into account health policies. The present article was prepared by a bibliographical survey of the electronic databases PubMed, Lilacs, and Bireme. Cell culture testing can be successfully employed, as it is reproducible, rapid, sensitive, and financially accessible for performing in vitro toxicity testing. Thus, it has been possible to optimize the development phase of new products by decreasing animal use or even replacing them in certain tests. Some in vitro assays validated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the area of health products have already replaced animal testing.
基金supported by the Key Research and Development Project of Hubei Province,China(No.2021BCA111)。
文摘The selection of the most motile and functionally competent sperm is an essential basis for in vitro fertilization(IVF)and normal embryonic development.Widely adopted clinical approaches for sperm sample processing intensely rely on centrifugation and wash steps that may induce mechanical damage and oxidative stress to sperm.Although a few microfluidic sperm sorting devices may avoid these adverse effects by exploiting intrinsic guidance mechanisms of sperm swimming,none of these approaches have been fully validated by clinical-grade assessment criteria.In this study,a microfluidic sperm sorting device that enables the selection of highly motile and functional sperm via their intrinsic thermotaxis is presented.Bioinspired by the temperature microenvironment in the fallopian tube during natural sperm selection,a microfluidic device with controllable temperature gradients along the sperm separation channel was designed and fabricated.This study investigated the optimal temperature conditions for human sperm selection and fully characterized thermotaxis-selected sperm with 45 human sperm samples.Results indicated that a temperature range of 35–36.5℃along the separation channel significantly improves human sperm motility rate((85.25±6.28)%vs.(60.72±1.37)%;P=0.0484),increases normal sperm morphology rate((16.42±1.43)%vs.(12.55±0.88)%;P<0.0001),and reduces DNA fragmentation((7.44±0.79)%vs.(10.36±0.72)%;P=0.0485)compared to the nonthermotaxis group.Sperm thermotaxis is species-specific,and selected mouse sperm displayed the highest motility in response to a temperature range of 36–37.5℃ along the separation channel.Furthermore,IVF experiments indicated that the selected sperm permitted an increased fertilization rate and improved embryonic development from zygote to blastocyst.This microfluidic thermotaxic selection approach will be translated into clinical practice to improve the IVF success rate for patients with oligozoospermia and asthenozoospermia.
文摘Neurodegeneration is a catastrophic process that develops progressive damage leading to functional andstructural loss of the cells of the nervous system and is among the biggest unavoidable problems of our age.Animalmodels do not reflect the pathophysiology observed in humans due to distinct differences between the neuralpathways,gene expression patterns,neuronal plasticity,and other disease-related mechanisms in animals andhumans.Classical in vitro cell culture models are also not sufficient for pre-clinical drug testing in reflecting thecomplex pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases.Today,modern,engineered techniques are applied to developmulticellular,intricate in vitro models and to create the closest microenvironment simulating biological,biochemical,and mechanical characteristics of the in vivo degenerating tissue.In THIS review,the capabilities and shortcomings ofscaffold-based and scaffold-free techniques,organoids,and microfluidic models that best reflect neurodegeneration invitro in the biomimetic framework are discussed.
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.U20A20390,11827803,and 11302020)the 111 Project(No.B13003).
文摘Mechanical stretch plays an important role in the control of cardiomyocyte behavior,as well as in the study of the mechanisms of cardiovascular function and pathology.The complexity involved in biological systems in vivo has created a need for better in vitro techniques,thus a variety of cell stretching devices have been developed for a deeper understanding of cellular responses to strain.In this review,we introduce the design,functionality,and characteristics of multiple types of cell stretching devices from two and three dimensions,then discuss the research progress of promoting cardiomyogenic differentiation of stem cells by external stretching and its application in cardiac tissue engineering.
基金Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,Grant/Award Number:ZQN-818State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics,Grant/Award Number:2019006+1 种基金Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province,China,Grant/Award Number:2021J01310National Natural Science Foundation of China,Grant/Award Numbers:21775128,21804022。
文摘Given the continuous and growing demand for point of care(POC)diagnostic tests,attention has been shifted toward integration and miniaturization of laboratory protocols into“sample-in-answer-out”devices.Microfluidic technologies have been considered an ideal solution to address the requirements of POC diagnostics since many laboratory functions can be miniaturized and incorporated onto a single integrated chip.In this review,we summarize the advances of integrated microfluidic devices for POC diagnostics in the last 3 years.Particularly,we summarize current materials used for microfluidic chip fabrication,discuss the innovation of versatile integrated microfluidic devices,especially the strategies for simplifying sample preparation in manual or self-driven systems,and new detection methods of microfluidic chips.In addition,we describe new integrated microfluidic devices for POC diagnostics of protein-targeted immunodiagnostics,nucleic acid molecular tests,and small molecule metabolites analysis.We also provide future perspectives and current challenges for clinical translation and commercialization of these microfluidic technologies.
