Abstract
With the continuous development of drug screening technology, new screening methodologies and technologies are constantly emerging, driving drug screening into rapid, efficient and high-throughput development. Microfluidics is a rising star in the development of innovative approaches in drug discovery. In this article, we summarize the recent years’ progress of microfluidic chip technology in drug screening, including the developmental history, structural design, and applications in different aspects of microfluidic chips on drug screening. Herein, the existing microfluidic chip screening platforms are summarized from four aspects: chip structure design, sample injection and drive system, cell culture technology on a chip, and efficient remote detection technology. Furthermore, this review discusses the application and developmental prospects of using microfluidic chips in drug screening, particularly in screening natural product anticancer drugs based on chemical properties, pharmacological effects, and drug cytotoxicity.
Highlights
Microfluidic chip technology, termed micro total analysis systems or “labs on a chip”, has developed rapidly in recent years
The existing microfluidic chip screening platforms are summarized from four aspects: chip structure design, sample injection and drive system, cell culture technology on a chip, and efficient remote detection technology
This review discusses the application and developmental prospects of using microfluidic chips in drug screening, in screening natural product anticancer drugs based on chemical properties, pharmacological effects, and drug cytotoxicity
Summary
Microfluidic chip technology, termed micro total analysis systems (μTAS) or “labs on a chip”, has developed rapidly in recent years. Due to the resistance of cancer stem cells (CSCs) to conventional treatments, the majority of cancer patients have to face recurrence and metastasis after receiving conventional anticancer therapy.[3] In practice, it requires three stages for novel drugs to pass from the primary screening to full approval: the preclinical research stage in vitro, the preclinical stage of animal experiments in vivo, and the clinical trial stage with human participation.[4] Microfluidic drug screening is a new technology with an extensive use in the screening of anticancer drugs.[5] animal tests are essential for preclinical screening in the process of drug discovery, there are limitations, such as ethical considerations and species differences To circumvent these issues, cell-based assays using human cells have been actively pursued as alternatives.[6, 7] Traditional tumor-related cell studies are mostly on two-dimensional (2D) culture.[8,9,10] tumors are characterized by abnormal cell growth in a complex microenvironment, and 2D cell culture is insufficient to simulate the three-dimensional (3D) growth of tumor cells in vivo. It can simulate tumor microenvironments and construct bionic laboratories of microfluidics.[11, 12]
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