Microfluidic 3D hepatic cultures integrated with a droplet-based bioanalysis unit.

ABSTRACT: A common challenge in microfluidic cell cultures has to do with analysis of cell function without replacing a significant fraction of the culture volume and disturbing local concentration gradients of signals. To address this challenge, we developed a microfluidic cell culture device with an integrated bioanalysis unit to enable on-chip analysis of picoliter volumes of cell-conditioned media. The culture module consisted of an array of 140 microwells with a diameter of 300 m which were made low-binding to promote organization of cells into 3D spheroids. The bioanalysis module contained a droplet generator unit, 15 micromechanical valves and reservoirs loaded with reagents. Each 0.8 nL droplet contained an aliquot of conditioned media mixed with assay reagents. The use of microvalves allowe

SUBMITTER: de Hoyos-Vega JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10916504 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature