Microfluidics and Organ-on-a-Chip for Disease Modeling and Drug Screening (2nd Edition)

A special issue of Biosensors (ISSN 2079-6374). This special issue belongs to the section "Nano- and Micro-Technologies in Biosensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 2972

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
Interests: microfluidics; organ-on-a-chip; cancer research; biosensors; tissue engineering; microfabrication; medical devices
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Guest Editor
Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
Interests: microfluidics; organ-on-a-chip; biomedical engineering; systems biology; tumor microenvironment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Advanced in vitro cell culture systems, including microfluidic organ-on-a-chip (OoC) platforms, represent novel and promising technologies in biomedicine. These systems aim to mimic the features of human organs outside of the body. They are increasingly being employed to study the functionality of different organs for applications such as disease modeling, drug evolutions, and personalized medicine. In addition, these in vitro models can accelerate the development of drugs by eliminating or reducing animal testing.

This Special Issue aims to elucidate these promising and dynamic areas of research and gather original research articles and comprehensive reviews on the role of these in vitro models and platforms in order to further enhance the application of disease modeling and drug screening in preclinical studies.

The scope of this Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:

  • Novel devices/materials for organ-on-a-chip platforms;
  • High-throughput in vitro platforms for drug screening applications;
  • Biosensor integration with in vitro models;
  • Advanced stimuli-responsive material applications for in vitro models;
  • 3D bioprinting applications for organ-on-a-chip platforms.

Dr. Rohollah Nasiri
Dr. Mohammadreza Nikmaneshi
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • in vitro tissue models
  • microfluidics
  • organ on a chip
  • sensors
  • microphysiological sensors
  • lab-on-a-chip
  • drug screening
  • disease modeling
  • 3D bioprinting

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

43 pages, 7519 KiB  
Review
Bone-on-a-Chip Systems for Hematological Cancers
by Gül Kozalak and Ali Koşar
Biosensors 2025, 15(3), 176; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios15030176 - 9 Mar 2025
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Abstract
Hematological malignancies originating from blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes include leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, which necessitate the use of a distinct chemotherapeutic approach. Drug resistance frequently complicates their treatment, highlighting the need for predictive tools to guide therapeutic decisions. Conventional 2D/3D cell [...] Read more.
Hematological malignancies originating from blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes include leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, which necessitate the use of a distinct chemotherapeutic approach. Drug resistance frequently complicates their treatment, highlighting the need for predictive tools to guide therapeutic decisions. Conventional 2D/3D cell cultures do not fully encompass in vivo criteria, and translating disease models from mice to humans proves challenging. Organ-on-a-chip technology presents an avenue to surmount genetic disparities between species, offering precise design, concurrent manipulation of various cell types, and extrapolation of data to human physiology. The development of bone-on-a-chip (BoC) systems is crucial for accurately representing the in vivo bone microenvironment, predicting drug responses for hematological cancers, mitigating drug resistance, and facilitating personalized therapeutic interventions. BoC systems for modeling hematological cancers and drug research can encompass intricate designs and integrated platforms for analyzing drug response data to simulate disease scenarios. This review provides a comprehensive examination of BoC systems applicable to modeling hematological cancers and visualizing drug responses within the intricate context of bone. It thoroughly discusses the materials pertinent to BoC systems, suitable in vitro techniques, the predictive capabilities of BoC systems in clinical settings, and their potential for commercialization. Full article
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21 pages, 5531 KiB  
Review
Recapitulating Glioma Stem Cell Niches Using 3D Spheroid Models for Glioblastoma Research
by Hyunji Jo, Seulgi Lee, Min-Hyeok Kim, Sungsu Park and Seo-Yeon Lee
Biosensors 2024, 14(11), 539; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios14110539 - 7 Nov 2024
Viewed by 2024
Abstract
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is among the most aggressive brain cancers, and it contains glioma stem cells (GSCs) that drive tumor initiation, progression, and recurrence. These cells resist conventional therapies, contributing to high recurrence rates in GBM patients. Developing in vitro models that mimic [...] Read more.
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is among the most aggressive brain cancers, and it contains glioma stem cells (GSCs) that drive tumor initiation, progression, and recurrence. These cells resist conventional therapies, contributing to high recurrence rates in GBM patients. Developing in vitro models that mimic the tumor microenvironment (TME), particularly the GSC niche, is crucial for understanding GBM growth and therapeutic resistance. Three-dimensional (3D) spheroid models provide a more physiologically relevant approach than traditional two-dimensional (2D) cultures, recapitulating key tumor features like hypoxia, cell heterogeneity, and drug resistance. This review examines scaffold-free and scaffold-based methods for generating 3D GBM spheroids, focusing on their applications in studying the cancer stem cell niche. The discussion encompasses methods such as the hanging drop, low-adhesion plates, and magnetic levitation, alongside advancements in embedding spheroids within extracellular matrix-based hydrogels and employing 3D bioprinting to fabricate more intricate tumor models. These 3D culture systems offer substantial potential for enhancing our understanding of GBM biology and devising more effective targeted therapies. Full article
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