Development of 3D skin-equivalent in a pump-less microfluidic chip

Abstract

Recently, development of a human skin equivalent has been under active study. Construction of a human skin equivalent requires co-culturing multiple cell types in a 3D scaffold. The 3D skin equivalent offers advantages over 2D cell culture models, improving the physiological relevance of the model. Combination of microfluidics with 3D skin models have been studied, providing a novel in vitro platform. Here, we examined 3D skin equivalent in a microfluidic chip. Immunohistochemistry and H&E staining revealed that the skin cells proliferated and differentiated in a microfluidic environment. Our study demonstrates successful on-chip culture and differentiation of 3D skin equivalent.