Compositions, devices and methods are described for improving adhesion, attachment, and/or differentiation of cells in a microfluidic device or chip. In one embodiment, one or more ECM proteins are covalently coupled to the surface of a microchannel of a microfluidic device. The microfluidic devices can be stored or used immediately for culture and/or support of living cells such as mammalian cells, and/or for simulating a function of a tissue, e.g., a liver tissue, muscle tissue, etc. Extended adhesion and viability with sustained function over time is observed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new method for evaluating and/or screening an excellent healthcare material or pharmaceutical product based on a new concept. The present invention to solve the above object is a method for evaluating and/or screening a control agent for tissue morphology and/or tissue function, the method including: applying a test substance to a tissue or cell capable of expressing a mechanical stress signaling molecule; and evaluating expression, activity, or intracellular localization of the mechanical stress signaling molecule in the tissue or cell.

Disclosed herein is a device comprising a microelectrode comprising cells cultured on a surface of the microelectrode and a porous membrane comprising an upper surface comprising cultured cells. Further, devices and methods for in in-vitro models of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and for modeling the transport across this barrier are disclosed.

The invention relates to methods of identifying compounds that modulate mTORC1 activity in a cell by modulating the activity of SAMTOR, as well as to the use of such identified compounds in the modulation of mTORC1 and the treatment of diseases and conditions characterized by aberrant mTORC1 activity.

The present invention provides methods and systems using optogenetic assays to identify features in measured neuronal action potentials that can be used to characterize neural disorders and potential therapeutic treatments.

The present invention provides methods and systems using optogenetic assays to identify features in measured neuronal activity that can be used to characterize neural disorders and potential therapeutic treatments.

The present disclosure provides a method of producing uniformly sized organoids/multicellular spheroids using a microfluidic device having an array of microwells. The method involves several successive steps. First, a microfluidic device containing parallel rows of microwells that are connected with a supplying channel is filled with a wetting agent. The wetting agent is a liquid that is immiscible in water. For example, the wetting agent may be an organic liquid such as oil. In the next step, the agent in the supplying channel and the microwells is replaced with a suspension of cells in an aqueous solution that contains a precursor for a hydrogel. Next, the aqueous phase in the supplying channel is replaced with the agent, which leads to the formation of an array of droplets of cell suspension in the hydrogel precursor solution, which were compartmentalized in the wells. The droplets are then transformed into cell-laden hydrogels. Subsequently, the agent in the supplying channel is replaced with the cell culture medium continuously flowing through the microfluidic device and the cells within the hydrogels are transformed into multicellular spheroids.

The present invention relates to proteins suitable for being used as scaffolds to which a peptide of interest is bound, or which are comprised within a conjugate to which an agent of interest is attached. It also relates to said conjugates suitable for the selective delivery of their conjugated agents of interest to specific cell and tissue types, wherein said agent 5 can be a therapeutic agent or an imaging agent. It also relates to nanoparticles comprising such conjugates and the therapeutic uses thereof.

The present invention includes methods and systems for assessing a cellular response to a treatment modality, such as potential drug candidate, by comparing normalized single-cell measurements of cellular properties without the need of a calibration step.

The current invention relates to an improved method for measuring modulating effects of compounds on epithelial cell barrier function. The methods allows for high throughput screening of test compounds individually or in combination. Compounds improving the epithelial barrier function or compounds negatively influencing epithelial barrier function can be analyzed with the method described herein.