Pathophysiological Reconstruction of a Tissue-Specific Multiple-Organ On-A-Chip for Type 2 Diabetes Emulation using 3D Cell Printing

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), a chronic complex disease with high prevalence, causes severe damage to various organs. T2D has many etiologies that have not been fully elucidated. Although various models have been created to understand T2D, reconstructing the tissue-specific microenvironment and complications of T2D remain difficult. Therefore, a dynamic multiple-organ on-a-chip that mimics T2D in a hyperglycemic environment and visceral adipose tissue (vAT) using 3D cell printing with decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) bioinks is developed. This chip composed of separate compartments for the pancreas, adipose tissue, and liver, closely related to T2D, and a retinal compartment is added to confirm T2D complications. Furthermore, the pathological features of T2D are clearly revealed in the chip with vAT-derived dECM bioink in a hyperglycemic environment. These pathological features caused cellular dysfunctions of the retinal compartment. Moreover, treated T2D medications on the chip showed clinically identical efficacy. The chip is suitable for recapitulating the key features of T2D and is a promising platform for drug testing and T2D complication research.