Development and characterization of skin-on-chip platform

Abstract

In vitro skin models that study molecule permeability have come as a standard since the EU has banned the use of animals for skin toxicology studies. The cellular models developed are widely used in big cosmetic companies like L’Oreal®. This thesis focuses on the generation of high-throughput compatible full-thickness skin model (FTSm) developed on AKITA microfluidic platform. The AKITA plate 96 used is based on standard ANSI/SLAS 96-well plate. The platform has a microfluidic channel with gravity-induced flow. FTSm lies on top of a porous membrane with 3 µm pores. The model is tested with high and low calcium and validated by using immunofluorescent microscopy with Loricrin and Collagen IV, which marks keratinocyte maturation and dermal-epidermal junction, respectively. On top of the validation with immunofluorescent markers, barrier integrity of the model is tested using 0,4 kDa sodium fluorescein salt. The results obtained from the experiment presented in this study show the importance of calcium in the maturation process. Also, the platform that was used clearly showed that the skin cells under flow conditions reduced the barrier integrity compared to static conditions. The static condition proved similar permeability wise compared to other already existing models.