A multichannel three-dimensional chip of a microfluidic cell culture which enables the simulation of organs is called an “organ on a chip” (OC). With the integration of many other technologies, OCs have been mimicking organs, substituting animal models, and diminishing the time and cost of experiments which is better than the preceding conventional in vitro models, which make them imperative tools for finding functional properties, pathological states, and developmental studies of organs. In this review, recent progress regarding microfluidic devices and their applications in cell cultures is discussed to explain the advantages and limitations of these systems. Microfluidics is not a solution but only an approach to create a controlled environment, however, other supporting technologies are needed, depending upon what is intended to be achieved. Microfluidic platforms can be integrated with additional technologies to enhance the organ on chip simulations. Besides, new directions and areas are mentioned for interested researchers in this field, and future challenges regarding the simulation of OCs are also discussed, which will make microfluidics more accurate and beneficial for biological applications.

Ovarian cancer is a medical term that includes a number of tumors with different molecular biology, phenotypes, tumor progression, etiology, and even different diagnosis. Some specific treatments are required to address this heterogeneity of ovarian cancer, thus molecular characterization may provide an important tool for this purpose. On a molecular level, proviral-integration site for Moloney-murine leukemia virus (PIM) kinases are over expressed in ovarian cancer and play a vital role in the regulation of different proteins responsible for this tumorigenesis. Likewise, the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway is also a central regulator of the ovarian cancer. Interestingly, recent research has linked the PIM kinases to the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in several types of cancers, but their connection in ovarian cancer has not been studied yet. Once the exact relationship of PIM kinases with the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway is acquired in ovarian cancer, it will hopefully provide effective treatments on a molecular level. This review mainly focuses on the role of PIM kinases in ovarian cancer and their interactions with proteins involved in its progression. In addition, this review suggests a connection between the PIM kinases and the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway and their parallel mechanism in the regulation of ovarian cancer.

SummaryCell membrane is the first medium from where a cell senses and responds to external stress stimuli. Exploring the tension changes in cell membrane will help us to understand intracellular force transmission. Here, a biosensor (named MSS) based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer is developed to visualize cell membrane tension. Validity of the biosensor is first verified for the detection of cell membrane tension. Results show a shear stress-induced heterogeneous distribution of membrane tension with the biosensor, which is strengthened by the disruption of microfilaments or enhancement of membrane fluidity, but weakened by the reduction of membrane fluidity or disruption of microtubules. These findings suggest that the MSS biosensor is a beneficial tool to visualize the changes and distribution of cell membrane tension. Besides, cell membrane tension does not display obvious polar distribution, indicating that cellular polarity changes do not first occur on the cell membrane during mechanical transmission.

Microfluidic chips have been proved effective in mimicking different organs of human body. Simulating human ovarian follicles by microfluidic device will be useful in exploring the mechanism of folliculogenesis and related diseases. In this paper, a microfluidic chip was designed to culture a single human pre-antral follicle. Ovarian follicles were first encapsulated in 3D calcium alginate hydrogel beads and then cultured on chip and in dish under same conditions. The diameters of cultured ovarian follicles were measured, and the same amount of medium was collected from microfluidic device or dish per two days for measuring the estradiol and androgen concentrations. The results confirmed the successful growth of ovarian follicles on chip with their hormonal trends and diameters increase, which were similar to ovarian follicles cultured in dish. It is concluded that this microfluidic chip can be used to culture a single human ovarian follicle, which provides a useful tool to explore the hormonal changes and their interactions during folliculogenesis.

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