Microfluidic approaches aim to reconstitute functional units of organs that cannot be modeled easily in traditional cell culture or animal studies by reproducing vascular networks and parenchyma on a chip in a three-dimensional, physiologically relevant in vitro system. This “biomimetic” approach is sought to better recapitulate human physiology and human disease progression, therefore providing a biologically realistic microenvironment for the real-time characterization of physiological and pathological processes of cellular behavior and their underlying mechanisms, while overcoming ethical issues. By co-culturing tissue/organ specific endothelial/parenchymal/immune cells on a chip could simulate the microenvironment of human tissues and organs by 1) supporting a microvascular network that mimics the circulation and metabolism inside any tissue with respect to flow, shear, and pressure, 2) controlling spatial and temporal gradients of biochemical signals and, 3) imitating natural or induced immune response of living tissues and organs.

Successful application of such systems in life science research requires a combination of innovative biomaterials and advanced engineering technologies including, but not limited to, novel material design, state-of-the-art microfabrication, precise establishment of culture systems, and real-time monitoring combined with repetitive, quantitative assessment. The aim of this method collection is to bring together expert contributions and provide standardized protocols for chip fabrication, establishing and maintaining of the microfluidic co-culture, performing various tests on chip with standard analytical instrumentation and ultimately help broaden the applications of this biomimetic approach in life science research.