Dissecting Cellular Diversity in Paracrine Signaling with Single-Cell Secretion Profiling.

Paracrine signaling is a pivotal biological process facilitating intercellular communication; however, the absence of methodologies enabling concurrent profiling of heterogeneous paracrine mediators with single-cell resolution hampers the mechanistic understanding of this regulatory paradigm. Here, we developed a spatially patterned antibody barcode microchip for high-throughput mapping of paracrine mediators, including cytokines, chemokines, and extracellular vesicles (EVs), facilitating systematic decoding of homotypic and heterotypic paracrine interaction networks. Applying this platform, we investigated cell-number-dependent secretion dynamics in three human cell models: THP-1 macrophages, HMC3 microglia, and SH-SY5Y neurons.

ATP/P2X7 receptor/NLRP3 pathway facilitates renal tubular epithelial-myofibroblast transdifferentiation and interstitial fibrosis in rats with unilateral ureteral obstruction.

Background: P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) is reported involved in renal fibrosis and the activation of NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome. This study aimed to investigate the role of the P2X7R and NLRP3 in renal tubular epithelial-myofibroblast transdifferentiation (TEMT) and interstitial fibrosis using a rat unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) model.

Methods: Sprague‒Dawley rats were randomly divided into the following three groups: sham, UUO, and UUO + Brilliant Blue G (BBG).

An immune-liver microphysiological system method for evaluation and quality control of hepatotoxicity induced by Polygonum multiflorum thunb. Extract.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Clinical applications of Polygonum multiflorum Thunb. (PMT) have occasionally reported adverse effects on liver function, linking these instances of hepatotoxicity to PMT samples. Evaluating the hepatotoxicity of PMT, given its intricate composition and mechanisms, presents a notable challenge.

Assessing immune hepatotoxicity of troglitazone with a versatile liver-immune-microphysiological-system.

Drug-induced liver injury is a prevalent adverse event associated with pharmaceutical agents. More significantly, there are certain drugs that present severe hepatotoxicity only during the clinical phase, consequently leading to the termination of drug development during clinical trials or the withdrawal from the market after approval. The establishment of an evaluation model that can sensitively manifest such hepatotoxicity has always been a challenging aspect in drug development.

Physiological and Disease Models of Respiratory System Based on Organ-on-a-Chip Technology.

The pathogenesis of respiratory diseases is complex, and its occurrence and development also involve a series of pathological processes. The present research methods are have difficulty simulating the natural developing state of the disease in the body, and the results cannot reflect the real growth state and function in vivo. The development of microfluidic chip technology provides a technical platform for better research on respiratory diseases.

Hydroxyethyl Cellulose As a Rheological Additive for Tuning the Extrusion Printability and Scaffold Properties.

Bioink, a key element of three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting, is frequently engineered to achieve improved printing performance. Viscoelasticity related to rheological properties is correlative of the printability of bioink for extrusion bioprinting, which affects the complexity of printing 3D structures. This article shows the use of hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) as a rheological additive for engineering bioink to improve the printability without reducing the biocompatibility.

Establishment and Application of Peristaltic Human Gut-Vessel Microsystem for Studying Host-Microbial Interaction.

Intestinal floras influence a lot of biological functions of the organism. Although animal model are strong tools for researches on the relationship between host and microbe, a physiologically relevant human gut model was still required. Here, a novel human gut-vessel microfluidic system was established to study the host-microbial interaction.

Picomolar detection of carcinoembryonic antigen in whole blood using microfluidics and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a wide-spectrum biomarker. Clinically, we generally use serum sample to detect CEA, which needs to be centrifuged to pretreat the raw blood sample. In this study, we realized direct CEA detection in raw blood samples exploiting microfluidics.