Organs-on-chips with integrated electrodes for trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER) measurements of human epithelial barrier function

OYF Henry, R Villenave, MJ Cronce, WD Leineweber… - Lab on a Chip, 2017 - pubs.rsc.org
Lab on a Chip, 2017pubs.rsc.org
Trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER) is broadly used as an experimental readout
and a quality control assay for measuring the integrity of epithelial monolayers cultured
under static conditions in vitro, however, there is no standard methodology for its application
to microfluidic organ-on-a-chip (organ chip) cultures. Here, we describe a new microfluidic
organ chip design that contains embedded electrodes, and we demonstrate its utility for
assessing formation and disruption of barrier function both within a human lung airway chip …
Trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER) is broadly used as an experimental readout and a quality control assay for measuring the integrity of epithelial monolayers cultured under static conditions in vitro, however, there is no standard methodology for its application to microfluidic organ-on-a-chip (organ chip) cultures. Here, we describe a new microfluidic organ chip design that contains embedded electrodes, and we demonstrate its utility for assessing formation and disruption of barrier function both within a human lung airway chip lined by a fully differentiated mucociliary human airway epithelium and in a human gut chip lined by intestinal epithelial cells. These chips with integrated electrodes enable real-time, non-invasive monitoring of TEER and can be applied to measure barrier function in virtually any type of cultured cell.
The Royal Society of Chemistry