Biomaterials and Microfluidics for Liver Models

Morais, Alain da Silva; Oliveira, Joaquím M.; Reis, Rui L.

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-36588-2_5

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 171 publications

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“…Several platforms have been used to study liver function in the context of diabetes. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a diabetes comorbidity that has seen many engineered in vitro models 93‐96 . MPSs can be configured to study liver‐pancreas communication and have been used to model how β‐cells communicate to hepatocytes to store glycogen or release glucose in response to insulin and glucagon, respectively.…”

Section: Engineered Fluidic Platforms For Studying Islets and Insulinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engineering-inspired approaches to study β-cell function and diabetes

Lewis

Wells

2021

Stem Cells

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Strategies to mitigate the pathologies from diabetes range from simply administering insulin to prescribing complex drug/biologic regimens combined with lifestyle changes. There is a substantial effort to better understand β-cell physiology during diabetes pathogenesis as a means to develop improved therapies. The convergence of multiple fields ranging from developmental biology to microfluidic engineering has led to the development of new experimental systems to better study complex aspects of diabetes and β-cell biology. Here we discuss the available insulin-secreting cell types used in research, ranging from primary human β-cells, to cell lines, to pluripotent stem cell-derived β-like cells. Each of these sources possess inherent strengths and weaknesses pertinent to specific applications, especially in the context of engineered platforms. We then outline how insulin-expressing cells have been used in engineered platforms and how recent advances allow for better mimicry of in vivo conditions. Chief among these conditions are β-cell interactions with other endocrine organs. This facet is beginning to be thoroughly addressed by the organ-on-a-chip community, but holds enormous potential in the development of novel diabetes therapeutics. Furthermore, high throughput strategies focused on studying β-cell biology, improving β-cell differentiation, or proliferation have led to enormous contributions in the field and will no doubt be instrumental in bringing new diabetes therapeutics to the clinic.

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Section: Engineered Fluidic Platforms For Studying Islets and Insulinmentioning

confidence: 99%