Fabrication Strategies for Bioinspired and Functional Lung-on-Chips

Lung-on-chips (LoCs) are advanced microsystems designed to culture pulmonary cells under physiologically relevant conditions, including air–liquid interface, cell stretch, and shear stress. As the most promising preclinical models, the LoCs are aimed to reduce and ultimately replace conventional ineffective animal studies. Biomimetic and functional LoCs lead to more translational preclinical studies that effectively address unmet needs across therapeutic areas. A variety of cell- and scaffold-based techniques are employed to establish biomimetic pulmonary cell models that closely resemble their in vivo counterparts, which is a challenging yet critical aspect of LoCs. Herein, the challenges encountered in biomimetic LoCs are discussed, and the future perspectives toward higher biomimicry using advanced biofabrication approaches are explored.