Microfluidics 3D gel-island chip for single cell isolation and lineage-dependent drug responses study.

ABSTRACT: 3D cell culture in the extracellular matrix (ECM), which not only provides structural support to cellular constituents, but also initiates regulatory biochemical cues for a variety of important cell functions in tissue, has become more and more important in understanding cancer pathology and drug testing. Although the ECM-gel has been used in cell culture both in bulk and on-chip, previous studies focused on collective cell behavior rather than single-cell heterogeneity. To track the behavior of each individual cell, we have developed a gel-island chip, which can form thousands of islands containing single cells encapsulated by the desired ECM. Optimized by Poisson's distribution, the device can attain 34% single cell capture efficiency of the exact number of single cells per island. A goo

SUBMITTER: Zhang Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4978778 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature