Integrating skin and vasculature in a Multi-Organ-Chip Platform

Background Tests for drug development require an almost perfect fit with the human (patho-) physiological microenvironment. The majority of skin equivalents currently commercially available are based on static culture systems emulating only human epidermis, or combining epidermis and dermis in so-called full thickness skin equivalents. None of the existing systems contain important elements, such as vasculature, skin appendices or an immune system. Therefore, current in vitro and animal tests are failing to accurately predict drug toxicity. Our Multi-Organ-Chip (MOC) platform is a micro scale bioreactor providing pulsatile dynamic perfusion for microscale organoids. Here, we combine skin equivalents with vasculature in our two-organ variant (2OC). This would be needed for physiological-like interactions, regulation and, eventually, homeostasis within the chip.