Integrated-gut-liver-on-a-chip platform as an in vitro human model of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
Open accessAbstract
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) afflicts a significant percentage of the population; however, no effective treatments have yet been established because of the unsuitability of in vitro assays and animal experimental models. Here, we present an integrated-gut-liver-on-a-chip (iGLC) platform as an in vitro human model of the gut-liver axis (GLA) by co-culturing human gut and liver cell lines interconnected via microfluidics in a closed circulation loop, for the initiation and progression of NAFLD by treatment with free fatty acids (FFAs) for 1 and 7 days, respectively. Co-cultured Caco-2 gut-mimicking cells and HepG2 hepatocyte-like cells demonstrate the protective effects from apoptosis against FFAs treatment, whereas mono-cultured cells exhibit induced apoptosis. Phenotype and gene expression analyses reveal that the FFAs-treated gut and liver cells accumulated intracellular lipid droplets and show an increase in gene expression associated with a cellular response to copper ions and endoplasmic reticulum stress. As an in vitro human GLA model, the iGLC platform may serve as an alternative to animal experiments for investigating the mechanisms of NAFLD.
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Yang et al.'s "gut-liver-on-a-chip" model is the most physiologically complex of the platforms described, reproducing the axis of interorgan interaction with closed-loop circulation, and prolonged exposure (7 days) brings the model closer to the chronic pathogenesis of MASLD.
“Yang et al.’s model (“gut–liver-on-a-chip”) is the most physiologically complex of the platforms described, reproducing the axis of interorgan interaction with closed-loop circulation. Prolonged exposure (7 days) brings the model closer to the chronic pathogenesis of MASLD.”
From The HepG2 Cell Line as a Model for Studying Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (2026) · cites this paper as [135]
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- Authors
- Yang, J., Hirai, Y., Iida, K., Ito, S., Trumm, M., Terada, S., Sakai, R., Tsuchiya, T., Tabata, O., & Kamei, K.-I.
- Affiliations
- Kyoto University (JP)
- Kindai University (JP)
- Shenyang Pharmaceutical University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Hirai, Yoshikazu
- Kamei, Ken-ichiro
- ORCID
- Venue
- Communications Biology
- Published
- 2023-03-23
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 310-310
- ISSN
- 2399-3642 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10036655
- OpenAlex
- W4360612586
- Cited by
- 98
- References
- 89
- Citations by year
- 2026: 35 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 18.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Communications Biology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Kyoto University Research Information Repository (Kyoto University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (19H02572, 18KK0306, 16K14660, 17H02083, 21H01728)
- Nakatani Foundation for Advancement of Measuring Technologies in Biomedical Engineering
- Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (17937667)
- Terumo Foundation for Life Sciences and Arts
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › 3D Printing in Biomedical Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Hepatology › Liver physiology and pathology
- Keywords
- non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, gut-liver axis, organ-on-a-chip, Caco-2 cells, HepG2 cells, free fatty acids, apoptosis, lipid droplets, endoplasmic reticulum stress, in vitro disease model
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Humans, Caco-2 Cells, Lipid Metabolism, Lab-On-A-Chip Devices, Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
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