Abstract
Primary hepatocytes represent a physiologically relevant model for drug toxicity screening. Here, we created a biologically inspired artificial liver sinusoid with a microfluidic endothelial-like barrier having mass transport properties similar to the liver acinus. This unit consisted of a cord of hepatocytes (50 x 30 x 500 μm) fed by diffusion of nutrients across the microfluidic endothelial-like barrier from a convective transport vessel (10 nL/min). This configuration sustained rat and human hepatocytes for 7 days without an extracellular matrix (ECM) coating. Experiments with the metabolism mediated liver toxicant diclofenac showed no hepatotoxicity after 4 h and an IC50 of 334 ± 41 μM after 24 h.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1340-1346 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Biotechnology and Bioengineering |
Volume | 97 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Aug 2007 |
Keywords
- Artificial liver
- Biomimetic
- Bioreactor
- Hepatocyte
- Microfluidic