Reyk Horland

The multi-organ chip--a microfluidic platform for long-term multi-tissue coculture.

The ever growing amount of new substances released onto the market and the limited predictability of current in vitro test systems has led to a high need for new solutions for substance testing. Many drugs that have been removed from the market due to drug-induced liver injury released their toxic potential only after several doses of chronic testing in humans. However, a controlled microenvironment is pivotal for long-term multiple dosing experiments, as even minor alterations in extracellular conditions may greatly influence the cell physiology. We focused within our research program on the generation of a microengineered bioreactor, which can be dynamically perfused by an on-chip pump and combines at least two culture spaces for multi-organ applications. This circulatory system mimics the in vivo conditions of primary cell cultures better and assures a steadier, more quantifiable extracellular relay of signals to the cells. For demonstration purposes, human liver equivalents, generated by aggregating differentiated HepaRG cells with human hepatic stellate cells in hanging drop plates, were cocultured with human skin punch biopsies for up to 28 days inside the microbioreactor. The use of cell culture inserts enables the skin to be cultured at an air-liquid interface, allowing topical substance exposure. The microbioreactor system is capable of supporting these cocultures at near physiologic fluid flow and volume-to-liquid ratios, ensuring stable and organotypic culture conditions. The possibility of long-term cultures enables the repeated exposure to substances. Furthermore, a vascularization of the microfluidic channel circuit using human dermal microvascular endothelial cells yields a physiologically more relevant vascular model.

De novo formation and ultra-structural characterization of a fiber-producing human hair follicle equivalent in vitro

Across many tissues and organs, the ability to create an organoid, the smallest functional unit of an organ, in vitro is the key both to tissue engineering and preclinical testing regimes. The hair follicle is an organoid that has been much studied based on its ability to grow quickly and to regenerate after trauma. But hair follicle formation in vitro has been elusive. Replacing hair lost due to pattern baldness or more severe alopecia, including that induced by chemotherapy, remains a significant unmet medical need. By carefully analyzing and recapitulating the growth conditions of hair follicle formation, we recreated human hair follicles in tissue culture that were capable of producing hair. Our microfollicles contained all relevant cell types and their structure and orientation resembled in some ways excised hair follicle specimens from human skin. This finding offers a new window onto hair follicle development. Having a robust culture system for hair follicles is an important step towards improved hair regeneration as well as to an understanding of how marketed drugs or drug candidates, including cancer chemotherapy, will affect this important organ.

Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) forms part of the connective tissue of normal human hair follicles.

Abstract:  Hair follicle cycling is driven by epithelial–mesenchymal interactions (EMI), which require extracellular matrix (ECM) modifications to control the crosstalk between key epithelial‐ and mesenchymal‐derived growth factors and cytokines. The exact roles of these ECM modifications in hair cycle‐associated EMI are still unknown. Here, we used differential microarray analysis of laser capture‐microdissected human scalp hair follicles (HF) to identify new ECM components that distinguish fibroblasts from the connective tissue sheath (CTS) from those of the follicular dermal papilla (DP). These analyses provide the first evidence that normal human CTS fibroblasts are characterized by the selective in situ‐transcription of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP). Following this up on the protein level, COMP was found to be hair cycle‐dependent, suggesting critical role in this process: COMP is expressed during telogen and early anagen at regions of EMI and is degraded during catagen (only the CTS adjacent to the bulge remains COMP+ during catagen). Notably, COMP gene expression in vitro suggests direct correlation with the expression of TGFβ2 in CTS fibroblasts. This raises the question whether COMP expression undergoes regulation by transforming growth factor, beta (TGFβ) signalling. The intrafollicular COMP expression suggests to be functionally important and deserves further scrutiny in hair biology as indicated by the fact that altered COMP expression might be associated with scant fine hair in the case of some chondrodysplasia and scleroderma patients. Together these results reveal for the first time that COMP is part of the ECM and suggests its important role in normal human HF biology.

Skin and hair-on-a-chip: Hair and skin assembly versus native skin maintenance in a chip-based perfusion system

Background and novelty In recent decades, substantial progress to mimic structures and complex functions of human skin in the form of skin equivalents has been achieved. Different approaches to generate functional skin models were made possible by the use of improved bioreactor technologies and advanced tissue engineering. Although various forms of skin models are successfully being used in clinical applications, in basic research, current systems still lack essential physiological properties for toxicity testing and compound screening (such as for the REACH program) and are not suitable for high-throughput processes.

Dynamic culture of human liver equivalents inside a micro-bioreactor for long-term substance testing

Published by BioMed Central: Materne, Eva-Maria et al.: Dynamic culture of human liver equivalents inside a micro-bioreactor for longterm substance testing. - In: BMC Proceedings. - ISSN 1753-6561 (online). - 7 (2012), suppl. 6, art. P72. - doi:10.1186/1753-6561-7-S6-P72.

Assessment of troglitazone induced liver toxicity in a dynamically perfused two-organ Micro-Bioreactor system

Background The ever-growing amount of new substances released to the market and the limited predictability of current in vitro test systems has led to an ample need for new substance testing solutions. Many drugs like troglitazone, that had to be removed from the market due to drug induced liver injury, show their toxic potential only after chronic long term exposure. But for long-term multiple dosing experiments, a controlled microenvironment is pivotal, as even minor alterations in extracellular conditions may greatly influence the cell physiology. Within our research program, we focused on the generation of a micro-engineered bioreactor, which can be dynamically perfused by an on-chip pump and combines at least two culture spaces for multi-organ applications. This circulatory systems better mimics the in vivo conditions of primary cell cultures and assures steadier, more quantifiable extracellular signaling to the cells.

Automated substance testing for lab-on-chip devices

First published by BioMed Central: Kloke, Lutz ; Schimek, Katharina ; Brincker, Sven ; Lorenz, Alexandra ; Janicke, Annika ; Drewell, Christopher ; Hoffmann, Silke ; Busek, Mathias ; Sonntag, Frank ; Danz, Norbert ; Polk, Christoph ; Schmieder, Florian ; Borchanikov, Alexey ; Artyushenko, Viacheslav ; Baudisch, Frank ; Burger, Mario ; Horland, Reyk ; Lauster, Roland ; Marx, Uwe : Automated substance testing for lab-on-chip devices : From 23rd European Society for Animal Cell Technology (ESACT) Meeting: Better Cells for Better Health Lille, France. 23-26 June 2013. - In: BMC Proceedings. - ISSN 1753-6561 (online). - 7 (2013), suppl. 6, P28. - doi:10.1186/1753-6561-7-S6-P28.

Aspects of vascularization in Multi-Organ-Chips

Background Enormous efforts have been made to develop circulation systems for physiological nutrient supply and waste removal of in vitro cultured tissues. These developments are aiming for in vitro generation of organ equivalents such as liver, lymph nodes and lung or even multi-organ systems for substance testing, research on organ regeneration or transplant manufacturing. Initially technical perfusion systems based on membranes, hollow fibers or networks of micro-channels were used for these purposes. However, none of the currently available systems ensures long-term homeostasis of the respective tissue over months. This is caused by a lack of in vivo-like vasculature which leads to continuous accumulation of protein sediments and cell debris in the systems. Here, we demonstrate a closed and self-contained circulation system emulating the natural blood perfusion environment of vertebrates at tissue level.

Human hair follicle equivalents in vitro for transplantation and chip-based substance testing

The ability to create an organoid, the smallest functional unit of an organ, in vitro across many human tissues and organs is the key to both efficient transplant generation and predictive preclinical testing regimes. The hair follicle is an organoid that has been much studied based on its ability to grow quickly and to regenerate after trauma. Replacing hair lost due to pattern baldness or more severe alopecia, including that induced by chemotherapy, remains a significant unmet medical need. By carefully analyzing and recapitulating the growth and differentiation mechanisms of hair follicle formation, we recreated human hair follicles in tissue culture that were capable of producing a hair shaft and revealed a striking similarity to their in vivo counterparts. Extensive molecular and electron microscopy analysis were used to track the assembly of follicular keratinocytes, melanocytes and fibroblasts into the final hair shaft producing microfollicle architecture. The hair follicle generation process was optimized in terms of efficiency, reproducibility and compliance with regulatory requirements for later transplantation. In addition, we developed a procedure to integrate the de novo created human microfollicles into our existing chip-based human skin equivalents for substance testing. This would allow the evaluation of the role of hair follicles in dermal substance transport mechanisms for cosmetic products. Finally, we describe the challenges and opportunities we are facing for first-in-man transplantation trials.