P. de Haan, M. A. Ianovska, K. Mathwig, H. Bouwmeester and E. Verpoorte, 21st International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, Savannah, Georgia, USA, Oct. 22-16 (2017) 1593.
[link, pdf]
Gut-on-a-chip models have gained attention as replacements for other cell-based assays or animal studies in drug development or toxicological studies. These models aim to provide a more accurate representation of the in vivo situation in form and function; however, no digestive processes have been included in these systems so far. This work describes a miniaturized digestive system based on artificial digestive juices that digest liquid samples in a series of three microreactors. After optimization of the pH value of juices and mixtures, samples leading to fluorescent products were digested to demonstrate enzyme functionality and to determine kinetic parameters.