3D Bioelectronic Model of the Human Intestine

Organ on chip (OoC) technologies have the potential to improve the translation of promising therapies currently failing in clinical trials at great expense and time due to dissimilarities between animal and human biology. Successful OoC models integrate human cells within 3D tissues with surrounding biomolecular components, and have benefited from the use of inert 3D gels and scaffolds used as templates, prompting tissue formation. However, monitoring technologies used to assess tissue integrity and drug effects are ill adapted to 3D biology. Here, a tubular electroactive scaffold serves as a template for a 3D human intestine, and enables dynamic electrical monitoring of tissue formation over 1 month. Cell- and extracellular matrix component-invoked changes in the properties of the scaffold alleviate the need for posthoc placement of invasive metallic electrodes or downstream analyses. Formation of in vivo-like stratified and polarized intestinal tissue compete with lumen contrasts with other quasi3D models of the intestine using rigid porous membrane to separate cell types. These results provide unprecedented real-time information on tissue formation with highly sensitive multimodal operation, thanks to dual electrode and transistor operation. This device and the methodology for tissue growth within it represents a paradigm shift for disease modeling and drug discover

Corrigendum: 3D Hybrid Scaffolds Based on PEDOT:PSS/MWCNT Composites (Frontiers in Chemistry, (2019), 7, (363), 10.3389/fchem.2019.00363)

In the original article, we neglected to include the funder European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, grant agreement No. 723951 to RO. The corrected Funding section reads as follows: This work was supported by the EPSRC Cambridge NanoDTC, EP/L015978/1 and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Grant Agreement No. 723951 to RO. The authors apologize for this error and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of the article in any way. The original article has been updated

Modelling Human Gut-Microbiome Interactions in a 3D Bioelectronic Platform

Publication status: Published The role of the gut microbiome in various aspects of health and disease is now a well‐established concept in modern biomedicine. Numerous studies have revealed links between host health and microbial activity, spanning from digestion and metabolism to autoimmune disorders, stress and neuroinflammation. However, the exact mechanisms underlying this complex cross‐talk still remain a mystery. Conventionally, studies examining host‐microbiome interactions rely on animal models, but translation of such findings into human systems is challenging. Bioengineered models represent a highly promisingapproach for tackling such challenges. Here, a bioelectronic platform, the e‐transmembrane, is used to establish a 3D model of human intestine, to study the effects of microbiota on gut barrier integrity. More specifically, how postbiotics and live bacteria impact the morphology and function of the intestinal barrier is evaluated. e‐Transmembrane devices provide a means for in‐line and label‐free continuous monitoring of host‐microbe cross‐talk using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, revealing distinct patterns that emerge over 24 hours. Microscopy and quantification of molecular biomarkers further validate the differential effects of each bacterial intervention on the host tissue. In addition, a framework to better study and screen drug candidates and potential therapeutic/dietary interventions, such as postbiotics and probiotics, in more physiologically relevant human models is provided.</jats:p