# Microfluidic engineering of immune-competent organs-on-chips and their applications

## TL;DR

This review discusses how microfluidic organs-on-chips are being used to model immune systems and diseases, offering new ways to study immunology and develop personalized treatments.

## Contribution

The paper introduces design principles and applications of immune-competent organs-on-chips for modeling immune contexts and advancing immunotherapy.

## Key findings

- Microfluidic systems enable precise control over cellular and matrix environments for immune modeling.
- Integration with organoids and multi-omics provides new insights into human immunology.
- These platforms show promise for personalized immuno-medicine and immunotherapeutic development.

## Abstract

The emerging field of biomimetic microfluidics is advancing the engineering of immune-competent Organs-on-Chips. These systems overcome the constraints of conventional models by using precise microengineering to regulate cellular composition, three-dimensional extracellular matrix architecture, and dynamic biophysical signals. This review summarizes the core design principles, integrating microfluidics, tissue engineering, and biomaterials, that facilitate the reconstitution of physiological and immune-relevant pathological niches. We examine how such tunable control is utilized to model specific immune contexts, including tumor microenvironments for immunotherapy screening, inflammatory processes in barrier organs, and autoimmune disorders. The integration of these chips with patient-derived organoids and multi-omics technologies is emphasized, illustrating how this combined approach provides new mechanistic insights into human immunology. Finally, we consider the translational prospects of these platforms in promoting personalized immuno-medicine and accelerating immunotherapeutic development, while also addressing ongoing challenges in standardization and the incorporation of greater biological complexity.