From elastomer to thermoplastic: A material translation framework for scalable vascularized organ-on-a-chip drug screening

초록

Material selection and manufacturing route jointly influence fabrication scalability, assay implementation, and pharmacological performance in organ-on-a-chip systems. Although polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) remains widely used in academic research, its multistep manual fabrication and absorption of hydrophobic compounds present challenges for scalable and quantitative drug evaluation. Here, we present a staged manufacturing translation framework connecting conventional PDMS fabrication, direct biological prototyping in biocompatible DLP resin, and scalable production using injection molded polystyrene (PS). An open, rail guided architecture enabled capillary hydrogel compartmentalization in the resin and PS devices, supporting vascularized MPS implementation across successive manufacturing approaches. Vasculogenesis, directional angiogenic sprouting, vascular tracer distribution, microbead transport, junctional marker expression, and cell viability were evaluated across the platforms. Concentration dependent responses to paclitaxel and 5 fluorouracil were also observed, with platform dependent differences in response magnitude and technical variability under the conditions examined. These findings are interpreted as platform level outcomes rather than isolated material effects because device architecture and assembly configuration differ across the original platforms. Overall, this study establishes an integrated engineering pathway from laboratory scale PDMS fabrication through resin based biological validation to scalable thermoplastic manufacturing, providing practical guidance for translating vascularized organ-on-a-chip systems toward scalable and standardized formats for drug evaluation. © 2026 Elsevier Ltd

키워드