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Utah's Foremost Platform for Undergraduate Research Presentation
2022 Abstracts

Rapid Fabrication of a Dynamic Lung Microphysiological System That Incorporates an Extracellular Matrix-Based Membrane

Presenter: Cameron Mercer
Authors: Cameron Mercer, Matt Nelson, Bruce Gale
Faculty Advisor: Bruce Gale
Institution: University of Utah

The alveolar-capillary barrier is involved in respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, and tuberculosis that result in millions of deaths and affect hundreds of millions of patients every year. Conventional preclinical models of the alveolar-capillary barrier insufficiently represent the in-vivo microenvironment and associated respiratory pathology, resulting in a high failure rate in the development of respiratory therapeutics. Microphysiological systems (MPS) have emerged as a promising solution to better recapitulate in-vivo microenvironments, but these systems are limited by soft lithography techniques which require complex assembly for non-trivial geometries and rely on manual fabrication. Improving the physiological relevance of MPS will lead to a better understanding of distal lung function and respiratory pathology. To this end, we created a thin (<10 micrometer) extracellular matrix (ECM) based membrane for cell attachment comprised of solubilized elastin and collagen I. This membrane was integrated into a distal lung microphysiological device fabricated using 3D printing methods that is capable of flow and stretch by utilizing surface tension and weak bonding. The solubilization of elastin was carried out via partial hydrolysis in oxalic acid and was mixed at an equal concentration to collagen I. The ECM membrane contents were verified using immunohistochemical staining for collagen and elastin, and UV-VIS spectroscopy was carried out to determine optical properties. Thickness as a function of volume per unit of surface area was measured using scanning electron microscopy. Cell attachment and viability on the ECM membrane was observed with A549 cells, an immortalized line resembling alveolar type 2 (ATII) epithelial cells. At the completion of this project, we hope to better understand distal lung function and respiratory pathology in order to improve respiratory drug development.