Microfluidic Chip For Self-Assembling Acinar Spheroids And Drug Screening

Based on the physiological structure of the oral salivary glands and drug delivery pathways, this study utilizes microfluidic technology to develop a chip capable of self-generating vascularized salivary gland acini. The aim is to achieve rapid drug screening for salivary gland drug compatibility. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), 3D Printing, Microfluidic Chip Fabrication, Confocal Microscopy, Fluent Fluid Simulation, Live/Dead Staining, Immunofluorescence Staining, Concentration Diffusion Assay, and Contact Angle Measurement. Fluent software-based fluid dynamics simulations demonstrated that the drug concentration-generation chip could establish extreme concentration gradients from pure solvent to pure solute, consistent with FITC sodium fluorescein experiments. Endothelial cells successfully colonized the porous membrane, forming a capillary barrier layer with a 98% cell viability rate, while the pretreated salivary gland acini structures exhibited a uniform and stable hydrophobic array. Additionally, salivary gland epithelial acinar cells formed uniform spheroids (150–200 µm in diameter) in the pretreated acini-generation chip, maintaining sufficient viability for 2–7 days. The drug concentration-generation chip successfully established a uniform concentration gradient, demonstrating its capability for effective gradient formation. In another layer of the chip, salivary gland acinar cells were able to self-assemble into spheroids. This study utilized microfluidic technology to mimic the anatomical and physiological structure of salivary gland acini in vitro, achieving the construction of a functional "capillary barrier–acinar cell spheroid" organ-on-a-chip model. This platform provides an ideal high-throughput drug screening system for salivary gland disease treatment and rapid experimental testing.