A micro lung chip to assess air pollutant effects

This paper reports the fabrication and initial testing results of a dynamic micro lung chip to first time monitor the air pollutant effects on the lung epithelial cells. On the micro lung chip, it was demonstrated to culture lung epithelial cells (A549) on an inserted porous membrane; to real-time monitor the cell growth over time by measuring Trans-Endothelial-Electrical-Resistance (TEER) values with integrated micro electrodes; and to allow preliminary evaluation of cell responses and tracer permeation to the exposure to an air pollutant. After 24-hour exposure of the lung cells to an air pollutant (Na₂SO₃), the fabricated chip produced higher permeability by +908%. It also showed a lower TEER by 27% under the exposure to a simulant of 100 μM FITC-4k dextrans.