A microfluidic impedance-based extended infectivity assay: combining retroviral amplification and cytopathic effect monitoring on a single lab-on-a-chip platform.

Detection, quantification and monitoring of virus - host cell interactions are of great importance when evaluating the safety of pharmaceutical products. With the wide usage of viral based vector systems in combination with mammalian cell lines for the production of biopharmaceuticals, the presence of replication competent viral particles needs to be avoided and potential hazards carefully assessed. Consequently, regulatory agencies recommend viral clearance studies using plaque assays or TCID assays to evaluate the efficiency of the production process in removing viruses.

Latest Trends in Biosensing for Microphysiological Organs-on-a-Chip and Body-on-a-Chip Systems.

Organs-on-chips are considered next generation tools capable of recreating like, physiological-relevant microenvironments needed to cultivate 3D tissue-engineered constructs (e.g., hydrogel-based organoids and spheroids) as well as tissue barriers.

Optimized alamarBlue assay protocol for drug dose-response determination of 3D tumor spheroids.

The assessment of drug-dose responses is vital for the prediction of unwanted toxicological effects in modern medicine. Three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures techniques can provide -like spheroids and microtissues that resemble natural tumor function. However, formation of necrotic core and diffusion limitation of chemical compounds within these models can reduce the reproducibility and precision of standard bioassay protocols used to test two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures.

Fabrication of biomimetic placental barrier structures within a microfluidic device utilizing two-photon polymerization.

The placenta is a transient organ, essential for development and survival of the unborn fetus. It interfaces the body of the pregnant woman with the unborn child and secures transport of endogenous and exogenous substances. Maternal and fetal blood are thereby separated at any time, by the so-called placental barrier.

Combinatorial in Vitro and in Silico Approach To Describe Shear-Force Dependent Uptake of Nanoparticles in Microfluidic Vascular Models.

In the present work, we combine experimental and computational methods to define the critical shear stress as an alternative parameter for nanotoxicological and nanomedical evaluations using an in vitro microfluidic vascular model. We demonstrate that our complementary in vitro and in silico approach is well suited to assess the fluid flow velocity above which clathrin-mediated (active) nanoparticle uptake per cell decreases drastically although higher numbers of nanoparticles per cell are introduced. Results of our study revealed a critical shear stress of 1.