Tissue building does not occur exclusively during development. Even after a whole body is built from a single cell, tissue building can occur to repair and regenerate tissues of the adult body. This confers resilience and enhanced survival to multicellular organisms. However, this resiliency comes at a cost, as the potential for misdirected tissue building creates vulnerability to organ deformation and dysfunction–the hallmarks of disease. Pathological tissue morphogenesis is associated with fibrosis and cancer, which are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite being the priority of research for decades, scientific understanding of these diseases is limited and existing therapies underdeliver the desired benefits to patient outcomes. This can largely be attributed to the use of two-dimensional cell culture and animal models that insufficiently recapitulate human disease. Through the synergistic union of biological principles and engineering technology, organ-on-a-chip systems represent a powerful new approach to modeling pathological tissue morphogenesis, one with the potential to yield better insights into disease mechanisms and improved therapies that offer better patient outcomes. This Review will discuss organ-on-a-chip systems that model pathological tissue morphogenesis associated with (1) fibrosis in the context of injury-induced tissue repair and aging and (2) cancer.

中文翻译：

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用于模拟与纤维化和癌症相关的病理组织形态发生的器官芯片系统

组织构建不仅仅发生在发育过程中。即使在由单个细胞构建整个身体之后，也可以发生组织构建以修复和再生成人身体的组织。这赋予多细胞生物弹性和增强的生存能力。然而，这种弹性是有代价的，因为组织构建方向错误的可能性会导致器官变形和功能障碍——疾病的标志——的脆弱性。病理组织形态发生与纤维化和癌症有关，它们是全球发病率和死亡率的主要原因。尽管几十年来一直是研究的重点，但对这些疾病的科学理解是有限的，现有的疗法未能为患者带来预期的益处。这在很大程度上可以归因于使用二维细胞培养和动物模型不足以概括人类疾病。通过生物原理和工程技术的协同结合，器官芯片系统代表了一种强大的新方法来模拟病理组织形态发生，有可能更好地了解疾病机制和改进疗法，从而提供更好的患者结果。本综述将讨论器官芯片系统，该系统模拟与 (1) 在损伤诱导的组织修复和衰老和 (2) 癌症背景下的纤维化相关的病理组织形态发生。器官芯片系统代表了一种强大的新方法来模拟病理组织形态发生，它有可能更好地了解疾病机制和改进的治疗方法，从而提供更好的患者结果。本综述将讨论器官芯片系统，该系统模拟与 (1) 在损伤诱导的组织修复和衰老和 (2) 癌症背景下的纤维化相关的病理组织形态发生。器官芯片系统代表了一种强大的新方法来模拟病理组织形态发生，它有可能更好地了解疾病机制和改进的治疗方法，从而提供更好的患者结果。本综述将讨论器官芯片系统，该系统模拟与 (1) 在损伤诱导的组织修复和衰老和 (2) 癌症背景下的纤维化相关的病理组织形态发生。