An organ chip model of the mammalian joint

Unmet Need

Human movement relies on the function of cartilage-containing joints. In conditions such as osteoarthritis (OA), the cartilage within the joints becomes inflamed and degrades, leading to intense debilitating pain when bending joints. Despite the prevalence of OA, which affects 32.5 million US adults, there have been few pharmacological advances since the development of NSAIDS (Tylenol, ibuprofen). A major barrier to therapeutic development is a lack of representative preclinical models for OA. Existing animal models are cost-intensive and technically demanding, while static in vitro models do not account for the dynamics of a moving joint. To properly assess therapeutic interventions for OA and other diseases affecting human movement, there is a need for an efficient, accurate, and cost-effective model of the mammalian joint.

Technology

Duke inventors have developed an organ chip model of the mammalian joint. This is intended to be used as a platform for efficient screening of lubricants or drugs for OA. Specifically, the inventors have created a macroscale fluidic device capable of culturing cartilage tissue under controlled mechanical motion for up to 2 weeks. This model mirrors several physiological features of joint stress in patients and allows for downstream viability and gene expression analyses of cartilage tissues after drug treatment. The joint-on-a-chip model surpasses the limitations of existing in vitro cell culture models, while drastically reducing the complexity and expense of in vivo modeling. This has been demonstrated in several lab-based validation studies of the model.

Other Applications

This technology could also be used as a model for studying the normal physiology of joint movement.

Advantages

• Models cartilage tissue under mechanical stress, mimicking gait motions encountered by the native joint
• Enables downstream viability and gene expression analysis of cartilage tissue after drug treatment
• Ex vivo platform that maintains physiological features of joint stress seen in patients