Synovial joint-on-a-chip for modeling arthritis: progress, pitfalls, and potential

Zhong Alan Li; Shilpa Sant; Sung Kwon Cho; Stuart B Goodman; Bruce A Bunnell; Rocky S Tuan; Michael S Gold; Hang Lin

doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2022.07.011

Synovial joint-on-a-chip for modeling arthritis: progress, pitfalls, and potential

Trends Biotechnol. 2023 Apr;41(4):511-527. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2022.07.011. Epub 2022 Aug 19.

Authors

Zhong Alan Li¹, Shilpa Sant², Sung Kwon Cho³, Stuart B Goodman⁴, Bruce A Bunnell⁵, Rocky S Tuan⁶, Michael S Gold⁷, Hang Lin⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, USA; Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
² Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA; Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA; McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, USA.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
⁴ Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
⁵ Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Genetics, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA.
⁶ McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, USA; Institute for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR 999077, China.
⁷ Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
⁸ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, USA; Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA; McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, USA. Electronic address: hal46@pitt.edu.

Abstract

Disorders of the synovial joint, such as osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), afflict a substantial proportion of the global population. However, current clinical management has not been focused on fully restoring the native function of joints. Organ-on-chip (OoC), also called a microphysiological system, which typically accommodates multiple human cell-derived tissues/organs under physiological culture conditions, is an emerging platform that potentially overcomes the limitations of current models in developing therapeutics. Herein, we review major steps in the generation of OoCs for studying arthritis, discuss the challenges faced when these novel platforms enter the next phase of development and application, and present the potential for OoC technology to investigate the pathogenesis of joint diseases and the development of efficacious therapies.

Keywords: arthritis; disease modeling; drug testing; joint disease; microphysiological system; personalized medicine.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Arthritis, Rheumatoid* / pathology
Arthritis, Rheumatoid* / therapy
Humans
Microphysiological Systems
Osteoarthritis* / therapy

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding