Microfabricated 3D scaffolds for tissue engineering

A physiologically correct, on-chip, first pass metabolism model of oral absorption of drugs and environmental toxicants requires a microfluidic cell culture systems with three dimensional, multi cell-type cultures that replicate in vivo cell morphologies and structure. “First pass metabolism” refers to the absorption of ingested substances through intestinal tissue and their immediate transfer to the liver where enzymes can metabolize them before they enter systemic circulation. The process considerably decreases the bioavailability of ingested substances and is of interest to drug developers, toxicologists, and nutrition scientists. With such a system we can determine subtle physiological effects of drugs and toxicants that go beyond gross toxicity (e.g. viability). We aim to incorporate 3-dimensional in vitro tissues in the model and validate its ultimate ability to simulate first pass metabolism in humans through comparing results obtained with in vitro devices using cell types from rats, and humans to those obtained with in vivo rat experiments.