Mancini, V and Pensabene, V orcid.org/0000-0002-3352-8202 (2019) Organs-on-chip models of the female reproductive system. Bioengineering, 6 (4). ARTN: 103. ISSN 2306-5354
Abstract
Microfluidic-based technology attracts great interest in cell biology and medicine, in virtue of the ability to better mimic the in vivo cell microenvironment compared to conventional macroscale cell culture platforms. Recent Organs-on-chip (OoC) models allow to reproduce in vitro tissue and organ-level functions of living organs and systems. These models have been applied for the study of specific functions of the female reproductive tract, which is composed of several organs interconnected through intricate endocrine pathways and communication mechanisms. To date, a disease and toxicology study of this system has been difficult to perform. Thus, there is a compelling need to develop innovative platforms for the generation of disease model and for performing drug toxicity/screening in vitro studies. This review is focused on the analysis of recently published OoC models that recreate pathological and physiological characteristics of the female reproductive organs and tissues. These models aim to be used to assess changes in metabolic activity of the specific cell types and the effect of exposure to hormonal treatment or chemical substances on some aspects of reproduction and fertility. We examined these models in terms of device specifications, operating procedures, accuracy for studying the biochemical and functional activity of living tissues and the paracrine signalling that occurs within the different tissues. These models represent a powerful tool for understanding important diseases and syndromes affecting women all around the world. Immediate adoption of these models will allow to clarify diseases, causes and adverse events occurring during pregnancy such as pre-eclampsia, infertility or preterm birth, endometriosis and infertility.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | reproductive organs; women health; preterm |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Electronic & Electrical Engineering (Leeds) > Pollard Institute (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC EP/R511717/1 EU - European Union 748903 MRC MC_PC_17165 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 08 Nov 2019 11:23 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 22:03 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | MDPI |
Identification Number: | 10.3390/bioengineering6040103 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:153200 |