Figure 2.

Drug development with liver MPS. Liver microphysiological systems (MPS) result from coculturing different cell types in microfluidic settings that are designed to set the physiology of cellular function. (a) MPS can model drug effects via analysis of metabolism, drug–drug interactions, biomarkers, and phenotypes, such as transport, structure, metabolites, and toxicity. (b) The microenvironment of the liver lobule is multicellular, three‐dimensional, under flow, and defines the sinusoid. (c) two‐dimensional sandwich culture of hepatocytes between a collagen‐coated surface and a layer of Matrigel preserves hepatic function. (d–f) Different designs of liver MPS. Microtissues attach to scaffolds and are exposed to media flow and oxygen gradients in d. Microfluidic chambers (e and f) can also maintain tissue function, under oxygen gradients.91 A porous membrane can separate endothelial cells from hepatocytes to mimic a barrier (f). Illustrations are inspired by different sources.42, 43 [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]