Research

EUROoC comprises a collection of innovative research projects addressing the development of advanced OoC systems with higher physiological significance going beyond current in vitro testing. The EUROoC project will create advanced OoCs, which closely recapitulate properties of the respective organ tissues in vivo regarding cell types, microenvironment, organ-specific tissue structure and function as well as concepts for the interconnection of individual OoCs.

The various OoC models to be developed comprise heart-on-a-chip, bone-on-a-chip, retina-on-a-chip, lung-on-a-chip, adipose- on-a-chip, guton-a-chip to liver-on-a-chip. The OoC systems will be able to monitor and analyse tissue functionality and response in situ by integrating various novel sensing elements. The OoCs developed will be tested with the regulatory partners through in vitro-in vivo correlations.

Organ-on-Chip and the 3R: A virtual lab tour

Our 15 PhD students give you a virtual lab tour in 11 laboratories involved in the EUROoC International Training Network, where  they are working on finding alternatives to reduce animal testing. You are guided through the processes of building and setting-up an organ-on-chip experiment for in vitro modeling and drug screening. 4 PhD students will highlight their chips and applications.

Projects

1. Project

Parallelisable microfluidic Heart-on-a-chip systems with integrated sensing capability to monitor maturation and functionality of cardiac microtissues

 

2. Project

Application and quantification of mechanical load to a 3D bone-tissue analogue within a microfluidic device – bone-on-a-chip

 

3. Project

Development of a microphysiological system that integrates and differentiates tissue-specific ECs

 

4. Project

Development of a microfludic-based OoC model as a device for modelling cellular therapy approaches

 

5. Project

Gut-on-a-chip modelling microbiome dysbiosis

 

6. Project

Retina-on-Chip with Local Oxygen Sensing

 

7. Project

Development of an acute lung infection model

 

8. Project

Microfluidic methods for bead-based assays on-chip

 

9. Project

Development of defined matrices for next-generation OoC systems

 

10. Project

Microvasculature-on-a-chip modelling degenerative vascular disease

 

11. Project

Establishment of a liver zonation and infection model

 

12. Project

Integration of on-chip TEER measurement and of iPSC-derived epithelial cells in the HuMiX gut/microbiome model

 

13. Project

Human immunocompetent WAT-Liver-on-a-chip system with integrated sensors

 

14. Project

Optical sensor systems for multi-parametric monitoring and control of OoCs

 

15. Project

Optical sensor concepts for monitoring metabolic activity

 

Publications

M. Lucchetti, M. Kaminska, A. Kehinde Oluwasegun,Alexander S. Mosig, P. Wilmes.
Emulating the gut–liver axis: Dissecting the microbiome’s effecton drug metabolism using multiorgan-on-chip models
Publication: Current Opinion in Endocrine and Metabolic Research, 2021, 18:94–101.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coemr.2021.03.003

M. R. Schneider, M. Oelgeschlaeger, T. Burgdorf, P. van Meer, P. Theunissen, A. S. Kienhuis, A. H. Piersma, R. J. Vandebriel. 
Applicability of organ-on-chip systems in toxicology and pharmacology
Publication: Critical Reviews in Toxicology, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10408444.2021.1953439