Intestinal cells are continuously exposed to various mechanical stimuli, such as shear stress generated by blood flow and contractile stress caused by peristalsis. These dynamic environmental forces play essential roles in regulating intestinal function and maintaining homeostasis. However, replicating these mechanical stimuli, such as fluidic flow and contractile stress, remains challenging when using conventional intestinal models like colon cancer cell lines or intestinal organoids. To overcome this limitation, a microphysiological system (MPS) has been developed. MPS is a cell culture platform that utilizes microfluidic devices to simulate physiological conditions, including mechanical stimuli induced by blood flow and peristaltic motion. Intestinal MPS makes it possible to investigate how mechanical forces contribute to intestinal homeostasis and influence the pathophysiology of intestinal diseases. Indeed, recent studies have successfully recapitulated the pathophysiology of intestinal infectious diseases and inflammatory enteritis using intestinal MPS, revealing the detailed mechanisms of tissue injury and host–pathogen interaction. Here, we introduce several existing intestinal MPS models and highlight their applications in intestinal disease research.
Deguchi et al. (Wed,) studied this question.