Engineering a three-dimensional tissue model with a perfusable vasculature in a microfluidic device

Abstract

In this study, we developed a microfluidic platform for a three-dimensional tissue model with a perfusable capillary network, which will allow, for the first time, a perfusion-culture in a tissue model with a high cell density. Our group previously reported that a spheroid of lung fibroblasts induced angiogenic sprouts from microchannels [1]. In this study, we successfully connected angiogenic sprouts to the vessel-like hollow structure in a spheroid and perfused the formed vascular network through microfluidic channels to the spheroid. This model opens up new techniques for tissue-culture for long-term.