Figure 2.

Strategies to reconstruct cells-ECM microenvironments in microfluidic disease models. 2D coated surfaces (left) and 3D hydrogels (right) each provide unique experimental advantages and limitations. Surface coated PDMS membrane is commonly used as substrate in platforms that have been used to investigate the effect of cyclic stress on cellular function or those that require complex geometry (bottom, left). 3D hydrogel systems are often limited to linear geometries but provide an optimal mechanical cellular microenvironment to study how spatial and mechanical cues in 3D influence vascular dynamics in diseases while allowing for cellular co-culture and hydrogel remodeling (bottom, right). [bottom, left: Images republished with permission of American Society for Clinical Investigation from Tsai et al. (2011); permissions conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center Inc. Bottom, right; Top: reproduced from Polacheck et al. (2019); Bottom: Reproduced from Wang et al. (2020) with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry].