Print Email Facebook Twitter Microfabricated tuneable and transferable porous PDMS membranes for Organs-on-Chips Title Microfabricated tuneable and transferable porous PDMS membranes for Organs-on-Chips Author Quiros Solano, W.F. (TU Delft Electronic Components, Technology and Materials) Gaio, N. (TU Delft Electronic Components, Technology and Materials; BIOND Solutions B.V.) Stassen, O.M.J.A. (Eindhoven University of Technology) Arik, Y.B. (University of Twente) Silvestri, C. (BIOND Solutions B.V.) Van Engeland, N.C.A. (Eindhoven University of Technology; Åbo Akademi University) Van der Meer, A. (University of Twente) Passier, R. (University of Twente) Sahlgren, C.M. (Eindhoven University of Technology; Åbo Akademi University) Bouten, C.V.C. (Eindhoven University of Technology) van den Berg, A. (University of Twente) Dekker, R. (TU Delft Electronic Components, Technology and Materials; Philips Research) Sarro, Pasqualina M (TU Delft Electronic Components, Technology and Materials) Date 2018 Abstract We present a novel and highly reproducible process to fabricate transferable porous PDMS membranes for PDMS-based Organs-on-Chips (OOCs) using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication technologies. Porous PDMS membranes with pore sizes down to 2.0 μm in diameter and a wide porosity range (2–65%) can be fabricated. To overcome issues normally faced when using replica moulding and extend the applicability to most OOCs and improve their scalability and reproducibility, the process includes a sacrificial layer to easily transfer the membranes from a silicon carrier to any PDMS-based OOC. The highly reliable fabrication and transfer method does not need of manual handling to define the pore features (size, distribution), allowing very thin (<10 μm) functional membranes to be transferred at chip level with a high success rate (85%). The viability of cell culturing on the porous membranes was assessed by culturing two different cell types on transferred membranes in two different OOCs. Human umbilical endothelial cells (HUVEC) and MDA-MB-231 (MDA) cells were successfully cultured confirming the viability of cell culturing and the biocompatibility of the membranes. The results demonstrate the potential of controlling the porous membrane features to study cell mechanisms such as transmigrations, monolayer formation, and barrier function. The high control over the membrane characteristics might consequently allow to intentionally trigger or prevent certain cellular responses or mechanisms when studying human physiology and pathology using OOCs. Subject OA-Fund TU Delft To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f9f4385e-b873-4c16-9419-f7bd466d3e02 DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-31912-6 ISSN 2045-2322 Source Scientific Reports, 8, 1-11 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2018 W.F. Quiros Solano, N. Gaio, O.M.J.A. Stassen, Y.B. Arik, C. Silvestri, N.C.A. Van Engeland, A. Van der Meer, R. Passier, C.M. Sahlgren, C.V.C. Bouten, A. van den Berg, R. Dekker, Pasqualina M Sarro Files PDF 46838032_s41598_018_31912_6_1_.pdf 2.89 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:f9f4385e-b873-4c16-9419-f7bd466d3e02/datastream/OBJ/view