Cell culture and life support system for microbioreactor and bioassay

A microchip-based cell culture system was developed and a primary culture of rat hepatocytes was realized in the system. The microchip was made of glass plates and had a microchannel and a microculture flask inside. The flask inner surface was coated using collagen solution; then FBS and DMEM were added successively. Rat hepatocytes suspended in a medium was introduced into the microchip and incubated at 37 °C in a humidified atmosphere with 5% CO2. Because of the shortage of dissolved oxygen, the cultured cells in the microchip resulted in a significant decrease in viability. To overcome this, a continuous medium flow oxygen and nutrition supplying system was designed and constructed. The system realized good cell growth for at least 4 days. Liver-specific functions, such as the synthesis of albumin and urea from hepatocytes were confirmed.