Study of the crosstalk between hepatocytes and endothelial cells using a novel multicompartmental bioreactor: a comparison between connected cultures and cocultures.

The liver and other organs are connected to each other through the bloodstream. Therefore, the connection between tissues is generally mediated by soluble molecules able to cross the endothelial wall of capillaries. We developed a multicompartmental device, multicompartmental bioreactor (MCB), designed to mimic the connection between different tissues in which crosstalk is mediated by soluble molecules transported through the blood.

Connected culture of murine hepatocytes and HUVEC in a multicompartmental bioreactor.

A multicompartmental bioreactor was conceived and designed to mimic cross talk between cells in different culture chambers connected only by flow, such that cell-cell interaction is mediated by soluble ligands as occurs in the body. The system was tested with a connected culture of murine hepatocytes and human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Metabolites such as albumin, urea, lactate and viability were monitored during the course of the experiments and compared with monoculture conditions in the bioreactor.