Journal: Scientific Reports
Article Title: A high-throughput microfluidic bilayer co-culture platform to study endothelial-pericyte interactions
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-90833-z
Figure Lengend Snippet: Development of the microfluidic microvascular co-culture model in the PREDICT96 platform. ( A ) Side-view schematic of the microvasculature. Capillaries are surrounded by pericytes which, under healthy conditions, help stabilize and mature the endothelium. ( B ) Cross-section schematic showing interaction of endothelial cells (ECs) and pericytes (PCs) through basement membrane. ( C ) Side-view cross-section schematic of the vascular model in the bilayer microfluidic device. ECs and PCs are cultured on either side of a microporous membrane coated with extracellular matrix, which allows interaction between the two cell types. ( D ) Top-view of the PREDICT96 plate, containing an array of 96 bilayer microfluidic devices that interfaces with a 384 well plate top. ( E ) Schematic of PREDICT96 custom pneumatic pump lid, containing 192 individual pumps that control fluid flow in each channel of the 96 bilayer devices. ( F ) A single PREDICT96 device corresponds to 4 wells of the 384 well plate with architecture allowing for culture and fluid flow in separate top and bottom channels, which overlap in the device center. ( G ) Top-view bright field image of a single device, with channel overlap area indicated as the region of interest (dotted rectangle). ( H ) Representative image of ECs stained for PECAM-1 (green) and Hoechst (blue) in channel overlap area.
Article Snippet: Primary human dermal microvascular ECs were purchased from Lonza (Basel, Switzerland) and expanded in the manufacturer’s recommended medium EGM-2MV (EBMTM-2 Basal Medium and Microvascular Endothelial Growth Medium SingleQuotsTM supplements).
Techniques: Co-Culture Assay, Membrane, Cell Culture, Control, Staining