Microfluidic platforms for modeling biological barriers in the circulatory system.

Microfluidic platforms for modeling biological barriers in the circulatory system.
Drug Discov Today. 2018 Jan 18;:
Authors: Yu F, Selva Kumar ND, Choudhury D, Foo LC, Ng SH
Abstract
Microfluidic platforms have recently become popular as in vitro models because of their superiority in recapitulating microenvironments compared with conventional in vitro models. By providing various biochemical and biomechanical cues, healthy and diseased models at the organ level can be applied to disease progression and treatment studies. Microfluidic technologies are especially suitable for modeling biological barriers because the flow in the microchannels mimics the blood flow and body fluids at the interfaces of crucial organs, such as lung, intestine, liver, kidney, brain, and skin. These barriers have similar structures and can be studied with similar approaches for the testing of pharmaceutical compounds. Here, we review recent developments in microfluidic platforms for modeling biological barriers in the circulatory system.
PMID: 29357288 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Drug Discovery Today - January 18, 2018 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Yu F, Selva Kumar ND, Choudhury D, Foo LC, Ng SH Tags: Drug Discov Today Source Type: research