Highlights from the Joint GDR Micro et Nanofluidique & GDR Réparer l'Humain Symposium at IPGG

April 4, 2025
louise
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Conference, Elveflow, GDR MNF, GDR Réparer l'humain

Elveflow was pleased to participate in the joint symposium of the GDR Micro et Nanofluidique (MNF) and GDR Réparer l’Humain, held this Wednesday (2nd of April 2025) at the Institut Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (IPGG) in Paris. This collaborative event brought together two leading French research communities—GDR MNF, under the direction of Pierre Joseph, and GDR Réparer l’Humain, led by Karine Anselm—to explore the latest advancements in microfluidics, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine.

Opening Plenary – Stéphanie Descroix

The day began with a compelling opening talk by Stéphanie Descroix from Institut Curie and IPGG, who addressed the growing potential of organ-on-chip technologies. Focusing on their applications in personalized medicine, particularly in guiding cancer treatment decisions, she outlined the unique benefits of these systems: miniaturization, precise environmental control, fully humanized model, and direct sample visualization.

Dr. Descroix also delved into her team’s recent work on gut-on-a-chip models, emphasizing the importance of mechanical forces and chip architecture in building physiologically relevant systems. Notably, her team successfully reproduced villus and crypt geometries, enabling the formation of a complete epithelium from organoids within just five days.

While fibroblasts were found to be non-essential for epithelial growth, their presence proved beneficial for localized proliferation and differentiation. Among the biomechanical cues studied, cyclic stretching emerged as the most critical factor in achieving apico-basal polarization—more so than curvature or shear stress. Drawing on this foundation, she introduced her ongoing work on “tumoroids-on-chip,” which could one day pave the way for highly personalized, patient-specific drug screening platforms.

Bertrand Cinquin, IPGG technological platform

Following this, Bertrand Cinquin, director of the IPGG technological platform, shared insights on microfabrication methods in biotechnology development. He advocated for brass molding in chip reproduction due to its superior speed, accuracy, and success rate when compared to traditional techniques.

Dr. Cinquin demonstrated how chip design itself can drive biological understanding, such as exploring cellular migration through microchannels of varying diameters to investigate tissue plasticity and define size thresholds. His discussion also covered oxygen exchange studies and the critical role of material selection—highlighting glass as a preferred substrate, both for supporting optimal cell development and for enabling the use of photonic techniques that precisely modify the chip design directly on its surface. As a practical example, he showcased a temperature–gradient chip integrating ITO electrode coatings to study C. elegans development.

He concluded with a strong case for the use of accessible software, such as Micro-Manager, to facilitate chip design and ensure seamless communication between instruments.

As a side note, it’s worth mentioning that main Elveflow instruments are fully compatible with Micro-Manager, making them easy to integrate into custom experimental setups!

GDR MNF and reparer l’humain young researcher session

The morning session also featured a first round of presentations by young researchers who are pushing the boundaries of organ-on-chip innovation:

Valentin Chalut (Institut des Nanotechnologies de Lyon) presented a magnetically actuated membrane system with hydrogel-based microstructures designed as an intestinal model. His platform enables controlled membrane deformation under a magnetic field while preserving organoid development, thanks to a Matrigel coating that supports epithelial growth.
Savitashva Shring (Collège de France, Paris) introduced his project “Cell sheet-based vascularized dermis on-a-chip”, where he developed a skin model using fibroblast and HUVEC cell sheets. His system successfully demonstrated endothelial sprouting and the formation of a functional, leak-free microvascular network—marking a significant step toward building fully vascularized dermal tissue on a chip.
Xiaochen Huang (Laboratory for Vascular and Translational Research, Paris) showcased her work on “Engineering of functional and perfusable 3D outer blood-retinal barrier on a chip.” Using a unique polysaccharide hydrogel scaffold, she achieved structured co-culture of endothelial cells and pericytes within a controlled flow environment designed to replicate both laminar and trans-epithelial flow. Her goal is to establish a physiologically relevant model for retinal disease studies.

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Bone innervation, Bruno Paiva Dos santos

The afternoon plenary talk was delivered by Bruno Paiva Dos Santos (Université Paris Cité), who captivated the audience with his research on bone innervation. He revealed that bones, beyond being highly vascularized, contain complex cellular niches and are significantly influenced by the sensory nervous system (SNS)—even more than by the central nervous system. To investigate this, his team developed a microfluidic platform that simulates innervation through indirect co-culture, using a design adapted from established neuronal models. This two-chamber system, connected by microgrooves and fabricated via conventional lithography, allows for detailed study of cell-to-cell interactions in a physiologically relevant context. His findings suggest that SNS activity plays a crucial role in enhancing bone formation, offering promising avenues for future therapies in bone regeneration and repair.

GDR MNF and reparer l’humain young researcher session

In the final round of young researcher presentations, attention turned to the fields of neurones-on-chip, cancer metastasis, and automated drug screening—each featuring novel applications of microfluidic systems:

Raúl Flores Berdines (HEALTHFEX, Université Paris Cité) presented “Soft thermoplastic elastomer compartmentalized chip for neurofluidics: a study to assess axonal growth in extracellular vesicle-based assays.” His work examines the influence of Schwann cell-derived extracellular vesicles (SCEVs) on axonal growth, using soft thermoplastic chips that can be detached from their substrate for improved imaging. His ultimate goal is to better understand the role of these vesicles in the myelination of the peripheral nervous system.
Elisa Migliorini (Université Grenoble Alpes) introduced her project “Development of a Biomimetic Bone Niche on a Microfluidic Device to Study Cancer Metastasis.” She presented a system based on a GAG-based biomaterial coated with bone morphogenic protein 2 (BMP2), a powerful osteoinductive factor that promotes bone cell growth and differentiation. Thanks to its effectiveness in supporting bone tissue engineering, this miniaturized bone model can be integrated into a two-chamber microfluidic chip designed to investigate bone metastasis in kidney cancer. By co-culturing renal and bone cells, the platform aims to replicate the metastatic process and serve as a robust tool for evaluating anti-metastatic therapies.
Caroline Parent (Institut Curie) concluded the session with her presentation “Label-free Machine Learning Prediction of Chemotherapy on Tumor Spheroids using a Microfluidics Droplet Platform.” Using an automated droplet system fed by syringe pumps from 96-well plates, she developed a technique for sequentially merging droplets containing tumor spheroids, drugs, and metabolic assays. This approach minimizes reagent consumption and increases throughput. The ongoing step is the integration of machine learning to accelerate the drug screening process in a label-free and cost-efficient manner.

Wrap up

As a last word, we would like to extend our sincere congratulations to all the speakers for their inspiring contributions, and to both GDR MNF and GDR Réparer l’Humain for organizing this insightful joint event. By bringing together complementary fields and fostering open exchange, this symposium made cutting-edge research more accessible to the broader scientific community.

At Elveflow, we are proud to be part of this vibrant ecosystem and are continually inspired by the depth and creativity of the French microfluidics community. Every event like this deepens our understanding of how microfluidic technologies are shaping the future of life science research—and we look forward to the discoveries yet to come.

Written and reviewed by Louise Fournier, PhD in Chemistry and Biology Interface. For more content about Microfluidics, you can have a look here.

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