We leave you a summary of the talk given by Ignacio Ochoa in the XIX edition of the Congress of the Spanish Society of Cell Biology (SEBC) held in Boadilla del Monte (Madrid) from October 26-29, 2021
http://www.xixcongresosebc.com/ponente
Novel in vitro biomimetic models based on organ on chip technology to simulate complex autophagy and cell death-related events.
Cellular behavior is affected by the environment around them. However, traditionally used in vitro two-dimensional cell culture models cannot simulate some of the complex contexts that cells face in their pathophysiological environment. For this reason, there is a need to develop more biomimetic models capable of simulating the complex cellular behaviors that occur in vivo in the different tissues/organs. In the last decade, microfabrication technologies for cell culture applications have emerged as a powerful tool for simulating tissue environments at the micron scale. This technology, known as Organ on Chip (OoC) or microphysiological systems (MPS), allows recreating the physiological cellular distribution in vitro. It also can imitate the biophysical stimuli and the physiological generation of gradients. Thanks to these biomimetic models and different materials to manufacture the devices, we have been able to simulate complex events during the development of highly heterogeneous tumors such as glioblastoma. For example, these devices have allowed us to create environments in which cells can generate gradients by self-induced ischemia due to oxygen and nutrient deprivation due to cellular consumption. Furthermore, the combined use of materials with different gas permeabilities allows us to specifically study the role of oxygen in cell death and autophagy processes. In conclusion, Organ on chip microdevices are helpful new tools for studying autophagy and cell death processes.
