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Salek MM, Carrara F, Zhou J, Stocker R, Jimenez‐Martinez J. Multiscale Porosity Microfluidics to Study Bacterial Transport in Heterogeneous Chemical Landscapes. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2024; 11:e2310121. [PMID: 38445967 PMCID: PMC11132056 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202310121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/07/2024]
Abstract
Microfluidic models are proving to be powerful systems to study fundamental processes in porous media, due to their ability to replicate topologically complex environments while allowing detailed, quantitative observations at the pore scale. Yet, while porous media such as living tissues, geological substrates, or industrial systems typically display a porosity that spans multiple scales, most microfluidic models to date are limited to a single porosity or a small range of pore sizes. Here, a novel microfluidic system with multiscale porosity is presented. By embedding polyacrylamide (PAAm) hydrogel structures through in-situ photopolymerization in a landscape of microfabricated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) pillars with varying spacing, micromodels with porosity spanning several orders of magnitude, from nanometers to millimeters are created. Experiments conducted at different porosity patterns demonstrate the potential of this approach to characterize fundamental and ubiquitous biological and geochemical transport processes in porous media. Accounting for multiscale porosity allows studies of the resulting heterogeneous fluid flow and concentration fields of transported chemicals, as well as the biological behaviors associated with this heterogeneity, such as bacterial chemotaxis. This approach brings laboratory studies of transport in porous media a step closer to their natural counterparts in the environment, industry, and medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- M. Mehdi Salek
- Department of Biological Engineering, School of EngineeringMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeMAUSA
- Department of CivilEnvironmental and Geomatic EngineeringInstitute of Environmental EngineeringETH ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| | - Francesco Carrara
- Department of CivilEnvironmental and Geomatic EngineeringInstitute of Environmental EngineeringETH ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| | - Jiande Zhou
- Department of CivilEnvironmental and Geomatic EngineeringInstitute of Environmental EngineeringETH ZurichZurichSwitzerland
- Microsystems LaboratoryInstitute of MicroengineeringSchool of EngineeringEPFLLausanneSwitzerland
| | - Roman Stocker
- Department of CivilEnvironmental and Geomatic EngineeringInstitute of Environmental EngineeringETH ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| | - Joaquin Jimenez‐Martinez
- Department of CivilEnvironmental and Geomatic EngineeringInstitute of Environmental EngineeringETH ZurichZurichSwitzerland
- Department of Water Resources and Drinking WaterEawagDubendorfSwitzerland
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Microfluidic-Enabled Multi-Cell-Densities-Patterning and Culture Device for Characterization of Yeast Strains’ Growth Rates under Mating Pheromone. CHEMOSENSORS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/chemosensors10040141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Yeast studies usually focus on exploring diversity in terms of a specific trait (such as growth rate, antibiotic resistance, or fertility) among extensive strains. Microfluidic chips improve these biological studies in a manner of high throughput and high efficiency. For a population study of yeast, it is of great significance to set a proper initial cell density for every strain under specific circumstances. Herein, we introduced a novel design of chip, which enables users to load cells in a gradient order (six alternatives) of initial cell density within one channel. We discussed several guidelines to choose the appropriate chamber to ensure successful data recording. With this chip, we successfully studied the growth rate of yeast strains under a mating response, which is crucial for yeasts to control growth behaviors for prosperous mating. We investigated the growth rate of eight different yeast strains under three different mating pheromone levels (0.3 μM, 1 μM, and 10 μM). Strains with, even, a six-fold in growth rate can be recorded, with the available data produced simultaneously. This work has provided an efficient and time-saving microfluidic platform, which enables loading cells in a pattern of multi-cell densities for a yeast population experiment, especially for a high-throughput study. Besides, a quantitatively analyzed growth rate of different yeast strains shall reveal inspiring perspectives for studies concerning yeast population behavior with a stimulated mating pheromone.
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Zeng W, Chen P, Li S, Sha Q, Li P, Zeng X, Feng X, Du W, Liu BF. Hand-powered vacuum-driven microfluidic gradient generator for high-throughput antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Biosens Bioelectron 2022; 205:114100. [PMID: 35219023 DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2022.114100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2021] [Revised: 02/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
The growth of bacterial resistance to antimicrobials is a serious problem attracting much attention nowadays. To prevent the misuse and abuse of antimicrobials, it is important to carry out antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) before clinical use. However, conventional AST methods are relatively laborious and time-consuming (18-24 h). Here, we present a hand-powered vacuum-driven microfluidic (HVM) device, in which a syringe is used as the only vacuum source for rapid generating concentration gradient of antibiotics in different chambers. The HVM device can be preassembled with various amounts of antibiotics, lyophilized, and stored for ready-to-use. Bacterial samples can be loaded into the HVM device through a simple suction step. With the assistance of Alamar Blue, the AST assay and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of different antibiotics can be investigated by comparing the growth results of bacteria in different culture chambers. In addition, a parallel HVM device was proposed, in which eight AST assays can be performed simultaneously. The results of MIC of three commonly used antibiotics against E. coli K-12 in our HVM device were consistent with those obtained by traditional method while the detection time was shortened to less than 8 h. We believe that our platform is high-throughput, cost-efficient, easy to use, and suitable for POCT applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenyi Zeng
- The Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics - Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Systems Biology Theme, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Peng Chen
- The Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics - Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Systems Biology Theme, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Shunji Li
- The Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics - Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Systems Biology Theme, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Qiuyue Sha
- The Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics - Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Systems Biology Theme, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Pengjie Li
- The Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics - Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Systems Biology Theme, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Xuemei Zeng
- The Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics - Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Systems Biology Theme, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Xiaojun Feng
- The Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics - Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Systems Biology Theme, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Wei Du
- The Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics - Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Systems Biology Theme, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China.
| | - Bi-Feng Liu
- The Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics - Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Systems Biology Theme, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China.
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Behera B, Anil Vishnu GK, Chatterjee S, Sitaramgupta V VSN, Sreekumar N, Nagabhushan A, Rajendran N, Prathik BH, Pandya HJ. Emerging technologies for antibiotic susceptibility testing. Biosens Bioelectron 2019; 142:111552. [PMID: 31421358 DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2019.111552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2019] [Revised: 07/27/2019] [Accepted: 07/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Superbugs such as infectious bacteria pose a great threat to humanity due to an increase in bacterial mortality leading to clinical treatment failure, lengthy hospital stay, intravenous therapy and accretion of bacteraemia. These disease-causing bacteria gain resistance to drugs over time which further complicates the treatment. Monitoring of antibiotic resistance is therefore necessary so that bacterial infectious diseases can be diagnosed rapidly. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) provides valuable information on the efficacy of antibiotic agents and their dosages for treatment against bacterial infections. In clinical laboratories, most widely used AST methods are disk diffusion, gradient diffusion, broth dilution, or commercially available semi-automated systems. Though these methods are cost-effective and accurate, they are time-consuming, labour-intensive, and require skilled manpower. Recently much attention has been on developing rapid AST techniques to avoid misuse of antibiotics and provide effective treatment. In this review, we have discussed emerging engineering AST techniques with special emphasis on phenotypic AST. These techniques include fluorescence imaging along with computational image processing, surface plasmon resonance, Raman spectra, and laser tweezer as well as micro/nanotechnology-based device such as microfluidics, microdroplets, and microchamber. The mechanical and electrical behaviour of single bacterial cell and bacterial suspension for the study of AST is also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bhagaban Behera
- Biomedical and Electronic (10(-6)-10(-9)) Engineering Systems Laboratory, Department of Electronic Systems Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - G K Anil Vishnu
- Biomedical and Electronic (10(-6)-10(-9)) Engineering Systems Laboratory, Department of Electronic Systems Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India; Center for BioSystems Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Suman Chatterjee
- Biomedical and Electronic (10(-6)-10(-9)) Engineering Systems Laboratory, Department of Electronic Systems Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - V S N Sitaramgupta V
- Biomedical and Electronic (10(-6)-10(-9)) Engineering Systems Laboratory, Department of Electronic Systems Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Niranjana Sreekumar
- Biomedical and Electronic (10(-6)-10(-9)) Engineering Systems Laboratory, Department of Electronic Systems Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Apoorva Nagabhushan
- Biomedical and Electronic (10(-6)-10(-9)) Engineering Systems Laboratory, Department of Electronic Systems Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | | | - B H Prathik
- Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, Bangalore, India
| | - Hardik J Pandya
- Biomedical and Electronic (10(-6)-10(-9)) Engineering Systems Laboratory, Department of Electronic Systems Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
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Li L, Wu T, Wang Y, Ran M, Kang Y, Ouyang Q, Luo C. Spatial coordination in a mutually beneficial bacterial community enhances its antibiotic resistance. Commun Biol 2019; 2:301. [PMID: 31428689 PMCID: PMC6687750 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-019-0533-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2019] [Accepted: 07/04/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Microbial communities can survive in complex and variable environments by using different cooperative strategies. However, the behaviors of these mutuality formed communities remain poorly understood, particularly with regard to the characteristics of spatial cooperation. Here, we selected two Escherichia coli strains, designated as the nutrition provider and the antibiotic protector, respectively, for construction of a mutually beneficial bacterial community that could be used to study these behaviors. We found that in addition to the functional mutualism, the two strains also cooperated through their spatial distribution. Under antibiotic pressure, the bacterial distribution changed to yield different spatial distributions, which resulted in community growth advantages beyond functional cooperation. The mutualistic behavior of these two strains suggested that similar communities could also use variations in spatial distribution to improve their survival rates in a natural environment or under the action of antibiotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lingjun Li
- Center for Quantitative Biology, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, 100871 China
| | - Tian Wu
- The State Key Laboratory for Artificial Microstructures and Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, 100871 China
| | - Ying Wang
- The State Key Laboratory for Artificial Microstructures and Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, 100871 China
| | - Min Ran
- The State Key Laboratory for Artificial Microstructures and Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, 100871 China
| | - Yu Kang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029 China
| | - Qi Ouyang
- Center for Quantitative Biology, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, 100871 China
- The State Key Laboratory for Artificial Microstructures and Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, 100871 China
- Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871 China
| | - Chunxiong Luo
- Center for Quantitative Biology, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, 100871 China
- The State Key Laboratory for Artificial Microstructures and Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, 100871 China
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Liu Z, Sun H, Ren K. A Multiplexed, Gradient-Based, Full-Hydrogel Microfluidic Platform for Rapid, High-Throughput Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing. Chempluschem 2017; 82:792-801. [PMID: 31961536 DOI: 10.1002/cplu.201600654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2016] [Revised: 02/25/2017] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance has become an immediate threat to modern healthcare systems as it continues to spread across the globe. As development of novel antibiotics stalls, preserving the effectiveness of existing agents has become a priority. One of the major driving forces behind antimicrobial resistance is the misuse and overuse of antibiotics, often a result of data on the susceptibility of pathogens not being obtained in a convenient and timely manner, a need that conventional antimicrobial susceptibility testing struggles to meet. Here, a hydrogel microfluidic platform is reported for antimicrobial susceptibility testing purposes, capable of handling real samples and yielding results within 2.5 h of culture. By using a multiplayer design with channels crossing overhead of each other, multiple experiments, either one- or two-dimensional, can be staged on the same device. Bacteria grown on the surface of the hydrogel can be easily visualized with standard Gram staining after being transferred onto a glass slide. Coupled with software-based image analysis, the system can yield a variety of useful information on bacterial susceptibility and the effects of drugs, such as minimum inhibitory concentration and morphological changes in bacteria, either individually or in combination. Compared to conventional testing methods, this system requires less labor, reagents, and equipment to operate, and has significantly higher speed and efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhengzhi Liu
- Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, Waterloo Rd, Kowloon, Hong Kong, P. R China
| | - Han Sun
- Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, Waterloo Rd, Kowloon, Hong Kong, P. R China
| | - Kangning Ren
- Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, Waterloo Rd, Kowloon, Hong Kong, P. R China.,State Key Laboratory of Environmental and Biological Analysis, Hong Kong Baptist University, Waterloo Rd, Kowloon, Hong Kong, P. R China.,Institute of Research and Continuing Education, Hong Kong Baptist University, Shenzhen, P. R China
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7
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Abstract
Molecular diffusive membranes or materials are important for biological applications in microfluidic systems. Hydrogels are typical materials that offer several advantages, such as free diffusion for small molecules, biocompatibility with most cells, temperature sensitivity, relatively low cost, and ease of production. With the development of microfluidic applications, hydrogels can be integrated into microfluidic systems by soft lithography, flow-solid processes or UV cure methods. Due to their special properties, hydrogels are widely used as fluid control modules, biochemical reaction modules or biological application modules in different applications. Although hydrogels have been used in microfluidic systems for more than ten years, many hydrogels' properties and integrated techniques have not been carefully elaborated. Here, we systematically review the physical properties of hydrogels, general methods for gel-microfluidics integration and applications of this field. Advanced topics and the outlook of hydrogel fabrication and applications are also discussed. We hope this review can help researchers choose suitable methods for their applications using hydrogels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuanqi Zhang
- Center for Quantitative Biology, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China.
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