Stem cell-based vascularization of microphysiological systems

Shane Browne; Elisabeth L Gill; Paula Schultheiss; Ishan Goswami; Kevin E Healy

doi:10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.03.015

Stem cell-based vascularization of microphysiological systems

Stem Cell Reports. 2021 Sep 14;16(9):2058-2075. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.03.015. Epub 2021 Apr 8.

Authors

Shane Browne¹, Elisabeth L Gill¹, Paula Schultheiss¹, Ishan Goswami², Kevin E Healy³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bioengineering and California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3), University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
² Department of Bioengineering and California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3), University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
³ Department of Bioengineering and California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3), University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. Electronic address: kehealy@berkeley.edu.

Abstract

Microphysiological systems (MPSs) (i.e., tissue or organ chips) exploit microfluidics and 3D cell culture to mimic tissue and organ-level physiology. The advent of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) technology has accelerated the use of MPSs to study human disease in a range of organ systems. However, in the reduction of system complexity, the intricacies of vasculature are an often-overlooked aspect of MPS design. The growing library of pluripotent stem cell-derived endothelial cell and perivascular cell protocols have great potential to improve the physiological relevance of vasculature within MPS, specifically for in vitro disease modeling. Three strategic categories of vascular MPS are outlined: self-assembled, interface focused, and 3D biofabricated. This review discusses key features and development of the native vasculature, linking that to how hiPSC-derived vascular cells have been generated, the state of the art in vascular MPSs, and opportunities arising from interdisciplinary thinking.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Biomarkers
Cell Culture Techniques, Three Dimensional*
Cell Differentiation / genetics
Endothelial Cells / cytology
Endothelial Cells / metabolism
Extracellular Matrix / metabolism
Gene Expression Regulation
Humans
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Lab-On-A-Chip Devices*
Neovascularization, Physiologic*
Stem Cells / cytology*
Stem Cells / metabolism*

Substances

Biomarkers