Fabrication of Ultra-Thin Micro-Porous PDMS Membrane for Cell Co-Culture in Blood Brain Barrier Model on Chip

Bridging barriers: advances and challenges in modeling biological barriers and measuring barrier integrity in organ-on-chip systems

“…Many devices use traditional synthetic porous membranes, which physically separate cell types and limit cell–cell communication primarily to paracrine signaling. A number of studies have designed thinner membranes to facilitate closer association between co-cultured cells, including PDMS membranes in the range of 1–10 μm, 156–159 and nanofibrous scaffolds in the sub-micron to 5 μm range. 160–162 However, the main advantage of this design is the ease of access to device compartments on either side of the barrier, enabling off-chip measurements of analytes ( e.g.…”

Mimicking the Natural Basement Membrane for Advanced Tissue Engineering

“… 36 , 142 PDMS membranes have been employed as simple scaffolds to mimic the BM due to the ability to vary its elastic properties via manipulating the amount of cross-linker during its fabrication. 38 , 143 − 147 This allows for reducing the modulus of the membrane close to that of the BM. 148 Huh et al developed a microfluidic device to mimic the alveolar-capillary barrier with the use of a 10 μm thick and porous PDMS membrane.…”

“…Biocompatible polymers such as poly­(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), poly­(carbonate) (PC), and poly­(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) are widely used cell culture substrates. These polymer membranes are fabricated with pores via soft lithography (PDMS) or track etching (PET and PC) to enable the diffusion of nutrients and signaling molecules when used as support barriers across coculture models. , PDMS membranes have been employed as simple scaffolds to mimic the BM due to the ability to vary its elastic properties via manipulating the amount of cross-linker during its fabrication. ,− This allows for reducing the modulus of the membrane close to that of the BM . Huh et al developed a microfluidic device to mimic the alveolar-capillary barrier with the use of a 10 μm thick and porous PDMS membrane.…”