Table 4.
Angiogenesis/vasculogenesis on-a-chip.
| Hydrogel types | Cell sources | Organoid types | Vascular morphology/signals | Major results | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fibrin | HUVECs, lung FBs | Microvascular | Complex perfusable microvascular networks | Diseased vessel diameter by adding VEGF or increasing fibrinogen concentration | [123] |
| Fibrin | HUVECs, lung FBs, pericytes, hGMCs | Complex angiogenic sprouts and primary vessel network. | Spatially controlled co-culture of HUVECs with different cell types | Interconnected vasculogenic networks due to the co-culture of lung FBs; formation of a gradient of LF-secreted factors to induce angiogenic sprouting; simulation pericyte recruitment from interstitial tissue; mimicking of tumor vasculatures | [181] |
| Fibrin | HUVECs, hMSCs | Microvascular networks | Calculation of the size of microvascular networks, average vessel diameters, and length of branches for HUVECs only and co-culture condition | Generation of a non-interconnected microvasculature with the addition of TGF-β1; promotion of functional networks with the addition of Ang-1; reduction of mean vessel diameter and increased number of network branches with the presence of mural cells | [184] |
| Gelatin, fibrin | HUVECs, hMSCs, hNDFs | Osteogenic differentiation | HUVEC-lined vascular channel | The viability of hNDFs decreased at distance more than 1 mm from the embedded vasculature; differentiation of hMSCs to an osteogenic lineage | [186] |
| Collagen | HUVECs, NIH/3T3 | Vasculature | The confluent monolayers within the channels about 200 μm | Two endothelialized tubules within a stromal compartment; generation of spatially defined VEGF, bFGF, and phorbol myristate acetate gradients; investigations of invasion depth and sprouting morphology induced by GF gradients | [33] |
| PEGMA, PEGDA, GelMA, SPELA | HUVECs, MC3T3 | Microchannel networks | 150–1000 μm diameters of microchannel using various dispensing capillaries | Enhanced mass transport, differentiation, cellular viability within the constructs due to the presence of GelMA; proliferation of HUVECs at high GelMA concentration. | [187] |
| Collagen, gelatin | HUVECs, C2C12 cells | Vascularized muscle bundle | Microchannel at 500 μm in diameter | Formation of robust HUVEC-junction in 24 h; immediate HUVEC-sprouting with a muscle fiber; longer length of vessel sprouting in vascularized muscle bundle compared with the group without muscle bindle. | [188] |
Abbreviations: bFGF - basic fibroblast growth factors, C2C12 cells - mouse myoblasts, FBs - fibroblasts, GelMA - gelatin methacrylate, hGMCs - human glioblastoma multiforme cells, hMSCs - human marrow mesenchymal stem cells, hNDFs - human neonatal dermal fibroblasts, HUVECs - human umbilical vein endothelial cells, MC3T3 - mouse embryonic osteoblasts precursor cells, NIH/3T3 - mouse embryonic fibroblasts, PEGDA - poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate, PEGMA - poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate, SPELA - lactide-chain-extended star polyethylene glycol.