Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science have demonstrated the feasibility of their “organ-on-a-chip” platform in studying how drugs are transported across the human placental barrier.
Some maternally-administered medications can enter the fetal bloodstream, but how the placenta determines which molecules can get through is still poorly understood. The ways of testing this process are limited. Animal models don’t capture important details of human physiology, most in vivo research can’t be ethically performed, and placentas donated after birth are only viable for a few hours, making it difficult to properly conduct complicated transport experiments.
A small number of drugs have been tested via this “ex vivo placental perfusion” method, however. By comparing the results of transport experiments conducted on their placenta-on-a-chip, the Penn team demonstrated their benchtop system could be an effective stand-in for a living organ in such research. Read more at: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/621556