Nanobioengineering group
Group leader: Josep Samitier
Anemia in vitro models by means organ on a chips systems
The field of Organs-on-Chip has emerged during the last years to address the complexity of the in-vivo scenario allowing the
study of the fundamental mechanism of certain tissues and organs. These are microfluidic devices, which allow a complete
control of the experimental conditions, using in-vivo-like conditions for culturing living cells in a continuously perfused closed
system. It has become an indispensable tool for biomedical researchers. The main objective is to synthesize and integrate
minimal functional physiological units that mimic tissue or organ level functions. Recently, our group developed for the first
time a novel micro-engineered device of the human Spleen-on-a-Chip. This device mimicked the splenic closed-fast and
open-slow microcirculation, the reticular mesh where the haematocrit is augmented, and the spleen’s filtering function.
We anticipate that this device will advance our knowledge of the spleen’s function in haematological disorders. Almost all
pediatric rare anemias are hereditary and their severe forms lead to a chronic life-threatening condition. Altered red blood
cells (RBCs) loss their capacity
of deformability, resulting unable
of being filtered by the spleen.
As a consequence, they are
sequestered and destroyed in
the spleen. The consequences
of hemolytic anemias vary a
lot between patients, and the
sequence of events leading
to fatal complications is still
unknown.
Figure: Splenon-on-a-chip to mimic the minimal filtering unit of the spleen
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