Analysis of herbicides on a single C30 bead via a microfluidic device combined with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer

Cell Analysis on Microfluidics Combined with Mass Spectrometry

Cell analysis is of great significance for the exploration of human diseases and health. However, there are not many techniques for high-throughput cell analysis in the simulated cell microenvironment. The high designability of the microfluidic chip enables multiple kinds of cells to be co-cultured on the chip, with other functions such as sample preprocessing and cell manipulation. Mass spectrometry (MS) can detect a large number of biomolecules without labelling. Therefore, the application of the microfluidic chip coupled with MS has represented a major branch of cell analysis over the past decades. Here, we concisely introduce various microfluidic devices coupled with MS used for cell analysis. The main functions of microfluidic devices are described first, followed by introductions of different interfaces with different types of MS. Then, their various applications in cell analysis are highlighted, with an emphasis on cell metabolism, drug screening, and signal transduction. Current limitations and prospective trends of microfluidics coupled with MS are discussed at the end.

Increasing the functionalities of 3D printed microchemical devices by single material, multimaterial, and print-pause-print 3D printing

3D printing has emerged as a valuable approach for the fabrication of fluidic devices and may replace soft-lithography as the method of choice for rapid prototyping. The potential of this disruptive technology is much greater than this - it allows for functional integration in a single, highly automated manufacturing step in a cost and time effective manner. Integration of functionality with a 3D printer can be done through spatial configuration of a single material, inserting pre-made components mid-print in a print-pause-print approach, and/or through the precise spatial deposition of different materials with a multimaterial printer. This review provides an overview on the ways in which 3D printing has been exploited to create and use fluidic devices with different functionality, which provides a basis for critical reflection on the current deficiencies and future opportunities for integration by 3D printing.

Advances in coupling microfluidic chips to mass spectrometry

Microfluidic technology has shown advantages of low sample consumption, reduced analysis time, high throughput, and potential for integration and automation. Coupling microfluidic chips to mass spectrometry (Chip-MS) can greatly improve the overall analytical performance of MS-based approaches and expand their potential applications. In this article, we review the advances of Chip-MS in the past decade, covering innovations in microchip fabrication, microchips coupled to electrospray ionization (ESI)-MS and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-MS. Development of integrated microfluidic systems for automated MS analysis will be further documented, as well as recent applications of Chip-MS in proteomics, metabolomics, cell analysis, and clinical diagnosis.

Multi-channel microfluidic devices combined with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry applied to the monitoring of glutamate release from neuronal cells

This paper describes an integrated system combining microfluidic devices with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI-Q-TOF-MS) for monitoring cellular chemical release. To demonstrate the feasibility of this new system, the reported carnosine-protection process against Abeta42-induced glutamate released from PC12 cells, was monitored. Poly-L-lysine coated microchannels were used to culture cells. A multi-channel miniature extraction chip (MEC) was integrated into the design to remove salts and protein interference effects. ESI-Q-TOF-MS was employed to realize semi-quantitative and highly sensitive qualitative analysis. The protective effect of carnosine against Abeta42-induced neurotoxicity was evaluated under different conditions in microchannels in parallel. The secretion product analysis, carried out by ESI-Q-TOF-MS, was accomplished in 5 min using only 2.5 microL of solvent. Furthermore, we show that integrated microfluidic devices have significant potential for the analysis of cellular secretions, as well as for medical screening tests and for the diagnosis of specific diseases.