Power of microphysiological systems

Professor Matt Kutys gave a talk on the afternoon of Oct 27th, 2022. He identifies himself as a biologist who uses engineering tools to make micro physiological systems that would allow deeper inquiries into biological questions. His research gave a clear idea of how microphysiological systems can advance our understanding of biology.

His research on tuberculosis highlights why it is necessary to develop microphysiological systems and how powerful they can be. Tuberculosis is caused in human by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Once contracted, M.Tuberculosis can be either confined in granulomas or spread further, leaving necrotic tissues behind. It is unclear what parameters dictates granuloma formation or spreading. Unfortunately, animals are relatively less susceptible. This limits the research on tuberculosis as researchers have to rely on human biopsies. The development of an in vitro microphysiological system modeling the development of tuberculosis will allow researchers to use human cells and modulate various parameters to investigate the mechanism of tuberculosis development.

Throughout his presentation, he showed various live images of flow inside vasculature, cell migration, vasculature collapsing, etc. Such visualization is very helpful for scientists to understand what is going on and gain insight into the underlying mechanisms, which would lead to meaningful hypotheses and discoveries. Such live imaging is difficult, if not impossible, in animal models.

Also, microphysiological systems allow control of variables that are hard to modulate in animal models or traditional 2D cultures. The professor presented a project on mechanobiology of vasculatures. He controlled the speed of flow inside microphsyological vasculatures and investigated changes in cadherin interactome, notch activation, etc.

Overall, microphysiological systems provide a powerful tool for biological and biomedical research. The use of human cells provide a human relevant platform. Compatibility with live imaging helps researchers understand the biological phenomena unraveling in the system. Controllability and high-throughput nature of these systems enable rapid sweep of parameter space while enabling perturbations difficult, if possible at all, in vivo, such as mechanical perturbations. It would be exciting to witness the development of microphysiological systems and how it changes biology and biomedical research.