Introduction
The extracellular matrix (ECM) is the non-cellular component present within all tissues and organs, which provides not only important physical support in cellular elements but also initiates key biochemicals and biomechanisms for tissue morphogenesis, differentiation, and homeostasis. This review of Biomaterials and Scaffold Fabrication for Organ-on-a-Chip Systems talks about all the requirements for ECM as it will differ in each application.
The authors examined the various materials and manufacturing processes utilized to build scaffolds in the field of study at the OOAC in this publication.
The development of new technology has considerably enhanced Scaffold research and tissue engineering in the last decade. Learn more by reading this review by Osório et al.
Abstract
The authors state that “Drug and chemical development along with safety tests rely on the use of numerous clinical models. This is a lengthy process where animal testing is used as a standard for pre-clinical trials. However, these models often fail to represent human physiopathology.
This may lead to poor correlation with results from later human clinical trials. Organ-on-a-Chip (OOAC) systems are engineered microfluidic systems, which recapitulate the physiochemical environment of a specific organ by emulating the perfusion and shear stress cellular tissue undergoes in vivo and could replace current animal models.
The success of culturing cells and cell-derived tissues within these systems is dependent on the scaffold chosen; hence, scaffolds are critical for the success of OOACs in research.
A literature review was conducted looking at current OOAC systems to assess the advantages and disadvantages of different materials and manufacturing techniques used for scaffold production; and the alternatives that could be tailored from the macro tissue engineering research field.”
Source
Osório LA, Silva E, Mackay RE. A Review of Biomaterials and Scaffold Fabrication for Organ-on-a-Chip (OOAC) Systems. Bioengineering (Basel). 2021 Aug 6;8(8):113. doi: 10.3390/bioengineering8080113. PMID: 34436116; PMCID: PMC8389238.