A Microfluidic Eye Facsimile System to Examine the Migration of Stem-like Cells
Millions of adults are affected by progressive vision loss worldwide. The rising incidence of retinal diseases can be attributed to damage or degeneration of neurons that convert light into electrical signals for vision. Contemporary cell replacement therapies have transplanted stem and progenitor-l...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Micromachines |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/13/3/406 |
| _version_ | 1797444863759745024 |
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| author | Stephen Ryan Mut Shawn Mishra Maribel Vazquez |
| author_facet | Stephen Ryan Mut Shawn Mishra Maribel Vazquez |
| author_sort | Stephen Ryan Mut |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Millions of adults are affected by progressive vision loss worldwide. The rising incidence of retinal diseases can be attributed to damage or degeneration of neurons that convert light into electrical signals for vision. Contemporary cell replacement therapies have transplanted stem and progenitor-like cells (SCs) into adult retinal tissue to replace damaged neurons and restore the visual neural network. However, the inability of SCs to migrate to targeted areas remains a fundamental challenge. Current bioengineering projects aim to integrate microfluidic technologies with organotypic cultures to examine SC behaviors within biomimetic environments. The application of neural phantoms, or eye facsimiles, in such systems will greatly aid the study of SC migratory behaviors in 3D. This project developed a bioengineering system, called the μ-Eye, to stimulate and examine the migration of retinal SCs within eye facsimiles using external chemical and electrical stimuli. Results illustrate that the imposed fields stimulated large, directional SC migration into eye facsimiles, and that electro-chemotactic stimuli produced significantly larger increases in cell migration than the individual stimuli combined. These findings highlight the significance of microfluidic systems in the development of approaches that apply external fields for neural repair and promote migration-targeted strategies for retinal cell replacement therapy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T13:17:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8cc948cefc4b45f689a1e538427f5ebb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-666X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T13:17:36Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Micromachines |
| spelling | doaj.art-8cc948cefc4b45f689a1e538427f5ebb2023-11-30T21:33:43ZengMDPI AGMicromachines2072-666X2022-03-0113340610.3390/mi13030406A Microfluidic Eye Facsimile System to Examine the Migration of Stem-like CellsStephen Ryan Mut0Shawn Mishra1Maribel Vazquez2Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 599 Taylor Rd, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USARegeneron, 777 Old Saw Mill River Rd, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USADepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 599 Taylor Rd, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USAMillions of adults are affected by progressive vision loss worldwide. The rising incidence of retinal diseases can be attributed to damage or degeneration of neurons that convert light into electrical signals for vision. Contemporary cell replacement therapies have transplanted stem and progenitor-like cells (SCs) into adult retinal tissue to replace damaged neurons and restore the visual neural network. However, the inability of SCs to migrate to targeted areas remains a fundamental challenge. Current bioengineering projects aim to integrate microfluidic technologies with organotypic cultures to examine SC behaviors within biomimetic environments. The application of neural phantoms, or eye facsimiles, in such systems will greatly aid the study of SC migratory behaviors in 3D. This project developed a bioengineering system, called the μ-Eye, to stimulate and examine the migration of retinal SCs within eye facsimiles using external chemical and electrical stimuli. Results illustrate that the imposed fields stimulated large, directional SC migration into eye facsimiles, and that electro-chemotactic stimuli produced significantly larger increases in cell migration than the individual stimuli combined. These findings highlight the significance of microfluidic systems in the development of approaches that apply external fields for neural repair and promote migration-targeted strategies for retinal cell replacement therapy.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/13/3/406electric fieldschemotaxisretinatransplantation |
| spellingShingle | Stephen Ryan Mut Shawn Mishra Maribel Vazquez A Microfluidic Eye Facsimile System to Examine the Migration of Stem-like Cells Micromachines electric fields chemotaxis retina transplantation |
| title | A Microfluidic Eye Facsimile System to Examine the Migration of Stem-like Cells |
| title_full | A Microfluidic Eye Facsimile System to Examine the Migration of Stem-like Cells |
| title_fullStr | A Microfluidic Eye Facsimile System to Examine the Migration of Stem-like Cells |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Microfluidic Eye Facsimile System to Examine the Migration of Stem-like Cells |
| title_short | A Microfluidic Eye Facsimile System to Examine the Migration of Stem-like Cells |
| title_sort | microfluidic eye facsimile system to examine the migration of stem like cells |
| topic | electric fields chemotaxis retina transplantation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/13/3/406 |
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