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American Institute of Physics, Biomicrofluidics, 3(5), p. 034115

DOI: 10.1063/1.3609264

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A microdevice for the creation of patent, three-dimensional endothelial cell-based microcirculatory networks

Journal article published in 2011 by Lien T. Chau, Barbara E. Rolfe ORCID, Justin J. Cooper-White
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

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Abstract

Microvascular network formation is a significant and challenging goal in the engineering of large three-dimensional artificial tissue structures. We show here the development of a fully patent, 3D endothelial cell (microvascular) microfluidic network that has a single inlet and outlet, created in only 28 h in a microdevice involving fluid flow equivalent to natural vasculature. Our microdevice features a tailored “multi-rung ladder” network, a stylized mimic of an arterial-to-venous pedicle, designed to also allow for systematic and reproducible cell seeding. Immunofluorescence staining revealed a highly contiguous endothelial monolayer (human umbilical vein endothelial cells) throughout the whole network after 24 h of continuous perfusion. This network persisted for up to 72 h of culture, providing a useful template from which the effects of surface chemistry, fluid flow, and environmental conditions on the development of artificial vascular networks ex vivo may be rapidly and robustly evaluated.