biostudies-literaturede Hoyos-Vega JMNIDDK NIH HHSMayo ClinicNCI NIH HHSNational Institutes of Health115896https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC10916504biostudies-literatureUnknown248A 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 alloweBiosensors & bioelectronicsMicrofluidic 3D hepatic cultures integrated with a droplet-based bioanalysis unit.PMC10916504DK134661R21 CA236612DK084567R01 DK111378P30 DK084567R21 CA126716R01 DK107255CA236612R01 DK134661DK107255Garcia-Cordero JLStybayeva GMatveyenko Ade Hoyos-Vega JMGonzalez-Suarez AMRevzin AMalhi HCedillo-Alcantar DFfalseMicrofluidic 3D hepatic cultures integrated with a droplet-based bioanalysis unit.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 allowe2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024 Mar2025-04-04T09:07:37.596Z2025-04-04T09:07:37.596ZS-EPMC109165043817625210.1016/j.bios.2023.115896