Final Report Summary - CELLO (From Cells to Organs on Chips: Development of an Integrative Microfluidic Platform)
Publishable brief summary of the achievements of the project: The summary should be a stand-alone description of the project and its outcomes. This text should be as concise as possible and suitable for dissemination to non specialist audiences. Please notice that this summary will be published.
The CellO project “From Cells to Organs on Chips”, aimed at developing a toolbox of microfluidic and microfabrication technologies for the development of complex, multicellular architectures, now popularized under the name of “organs-on-chips”. More specifically, the project’s objective was to combine concepts and methods from soft matter science (self-assembly, surface sciences, biomaterials) and microtechnologies (micro-nano-patterning, unconventional microfabrication methods such as micromachining, high-resolution 3D printing, roll-embossing, capillary assembly) to control the mutual positioning of cells from different populations with unprecedented power, and to address them with chemical or biochemical cues with high spatial and temporal resolutions. Organs-on-chip have a wide range of potential applications in biology and medicine, ranging from better understanding of cell interactions in tissues, developmental biology, tissue repair, mechanisms of diseases, to applications in drugs and toxics screening (replacing animal studies), personalized medicine or regenerative medicine. The project has yielded several new generic technologies, notably a method to prepare arrays of neurons with pre-defined connection topologies, new technologies for micro-analysis and for preconcentration of cells, and a new paradigm for the construction of microfluidic systems based on textile technologies. Several of these technologies were patented. It has also allowed to develop new specific models, notably neuron architectures for studying the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, microvascularization for the study of cancer dissemination, “guts of chips” for studying development and pathologies of the gut”, “tumoroids” model for drug screening and personalized diagnosis of cancer, and microsystems for studying fungal invasions.
The CellO project “From Cells to Organs on Chips”, aimed at developing a toolbox of microfluidic and microfabrication technologies for the development of complex, multicellular architectures, now popularized under the name of “organs-on-chips”. More specifically, the project’s objective was to combine concepts and methods from soft matter science (self-assembly, surface sciences, biomaterials) and microtechnologies (micro-nano-patterning, unconventional microfabrication methods such as micromachining, high-resolution 3D printing, roll-embossing, capillary assembly) to control the mutual positioning of cells from different populations with unprecedented power, and to address them with chemical or biochemical cues with high spatial and temporal resolutions. Organs-on-chip have a wide range of potential applications in biology and medicine, ranging from better understanding of cell interactions in tissues, developmental biology, tissue repair, mechanisms of diseases, to applications in drugs and toxics screening (replacing animal studies), personalized medicine or regenerative medicine. The project has yielded several new generic technologies, notably a method to prepare arrays of neurons with pre-defined connection topologies, new technologies for micro-analysis and for preconcentration of cells, and a new paradigm for the construction of microfluidic systems based on textile technologies. Several of these technologies were patented. It has also allowed to develop new specific models, notably neuron architectures for studying the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, microvascularization for the study of cancer dissemination, “guts of chips” for studying development and pathologies of the gut”, “tumoroids” model for drug screening and personalized diagnosis of cancer, and microsystems for studying fungal invasions.