Figure 1.

Experimental design to model androgen exposure from polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). (A) Schematic of fallopian tube interaction with ovarian-derived androgen. (B) Transwell insert with human fallopian tube epithelium (hFTE) tissues exposed at the air/liquid interface. (C) Hormonal treatments for Low (0.8 nM) vs. PCOS-like High (2 nM) androgen conditions. Estrogen (E2) was the same in both conditions, whereas testosterone was two times higher than control. (D and E) Microfluidic device using pneumatic pumps for tissue perfusion, fluorinated ethylene-propylene (FEP) and Viton membranes. (F) Hematoxylin and eosin staining for uncultured hFTE showing a dense and structured stroma vs. (G and I) hFTE cultured for 14 days in static conditions. (H and J) In the microfluidic system, the hFTE tissue maintained stroma more similar to the uncultured. Scale bar is 50 µm and all pictures have same magnification.