Electroacoustic Responsive Cochlea‐on‐a‐Chip

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) Vol. 36; no. 24; pp. e2309002 - n/a
• Main Authors: Hu, Yangnan, Xing, Jiayue, Zhang, Hui, Pang, Xinyi, Zhai, Yabo, Cheng, Hong, Xu, Dongyu, Liao, Menghui, Qi, Yanru, Wu, Danqi, Zhang, Bin, Cheng, Lin, Chu, Bo, Zhang, Chen, Zhao, Yuanjin, Chai, Renjie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.06.2024
• Subjects: Animals; Biocompatibility; Cell Survival; Cells (biology); Cochlea; Cochlear Implants; cochlear organoid; Concentration gradient; conductive hydrogel; Deafness; Ear; electroacoustic stimulation; Hearing protection; Humans; Hydrogels; Hydrogels - chemistry; Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; Mice; microfluidics; Organoids - cytology; organ‐on‐a‐chip; R&D; Research & development; Stem Cells - cytology; organ‐on‐a‐chip; conductive hydrogel; microfluidics; cochlear organoid; electroacoustic stimulation
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.202309002

Organ‐on‐chips can highly simulate the complex physiological functions of organs, exhibiting broad application prospects in developmental research, disease simulation, as well as new drug research and development. However, there is still less concern about effectively constructing cochlea‐on‐chips. Here, a novel cochlear organoids‐integrated conductive hydrogel biohybrid system with cochlear implant electroacoustic stimulation (EAS) for cochlea‐on‐a‐chip construction and high‐throughput drug screening, is presented. Benefiting from the superior biocompatibility and electrical property of conductive hydrogel, together with cochlear implant EAS, the inner ear progenitor cells can proliferate and spontaneously shape into spheres, finally forming cochlear organoids with good cell viability and structurally mature hair cells. By incorporating these progenitor cells‐encapsulated hydrogels into a microfluidic‐based cochlea‐on‐a‐chip with culture chambers and a concentration gradient generator, a dynamic and high‐throughput evaluation of inner ear disease‐related drugs is demonstrated. These results indicate that the proposed cochlea‐on‐a‐chip platform has great application potential in organoid cultivation and deafness drug evaluation. This work presents a novel cochlea organoids‐integrated conductive hydrogel biohybrid system with cochlear implant electroacoustic stimulation (EAS) for cochlea‐on‐a‐chip construction and high‐throughput drug screening. With this cochlea‐on‐a‐chip platform, high‐maturity cochlear organoids can be obtained. The authors also demonstrate the sensitivity of the cochlear organoids to different drug concentrations and screen the precise drug information that can protect the cochlea.