Microfluidic device for electric field-driven single-cell capture and activation

High-Throughput Cell Trapping in the Dentate Spiral Microfluidic Channel

Cell trapping is a very useful technique in a variety of cell-based assays and cellular research fields. It requires a high-throughput, high-efficiency operation to isolate cells of interest and immobilize the captured cells at specific positions. In this study, a dentate spiral microfluidic structure is proposed for cell trapping. The structure consists of a main spiral channel connecting an inlet and an out and a large number of dentate traps on the side of the channel. The density of the traps is high. When a cell comes across an empty trap, the cell suddenly makes a turn and enters the trap. Once the trap captures enough cells, the trap becomes closed and the following cells pass by the trap. The microfluidic structure is optimized based on the investigation of the influence over the flow. In the demonstration, 4T1 mouse breast cancer cells injected into the chip can be efficiently captured and isolated in the different traps. The cell trapping operates at a very high flow rate (40 μL/s) and a high trapping efficiency (>90%) can be achieved. The proposed high-throughput cell-trapping technique can be adopted in the many applications, including rapid microfluidic cell-based assays and isolation of rare circulating tumor cells from a large volume of blood sample.

Reorientation of Polymers in an Applied Electric Field for Electrochemical Sensors

This mini review investigates the relationship and interactions of polymers under an applied electric field (AEF) for sensor applications. Understanding how and why polymers are reoriented and manipulated by under an AEF is essential for future growth in polymer-based electrochemical sensors. Examples of polymers that can be manipulated in an AEF for sensor applications are provided. Current methods of monitoring polymer reorientation will be described, but new techniques are needed characterize polymer response to various AEF stimuli. The unique and reproducible stimuli response of polymers elicited by an AEF has significant potential for growth in the sensing community.

Microfluidic technologies for circulating tumor cell isolation

Metastasis is the main cause of tumor-related death, and the dispersal of tumor cells through the circulatory system is a critical step in the metastatic process. Early detection and analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is therefore important for early diagnosis, prognosis, and effective treatment of cancer, enabling favorable clinical outcomes in cancer patients. Accurate and reliable methods for isolating and detecting CTCs are necessary to obtain this clinical information. Over the past two decades, microfluidic technologies have demonstrated great potential for isolating and detecting CTCs from blood. The present paper reviews current advanced microfluidic technologies for isolating CTCs based on various biological and physical principles, and discusses their fundamental advantages and drawbacks for subsequent cellular and molecular assays. Owing to significant genetic heterogeneity among CTCs, microfluidic technologies for isolating individual CTCs have recently been developed. We discuss these single-cell isolation methods, as well as approaches to overcoming the limitations of current microfluidic CTC isolation technologies. Finally, we provide an overview of future innovative microfluidic platforms.

Current Trends of Microfluidic Single-Cell Technologies

The investigation of human disease mechanisms is difficult due to the heterogeneity in gene expression and the physiological state of cells in a given population. In comparison to bulk cell measurements, single-cell measurement technologies can provide a better understanding of the interactions among molecules, organelles, cells, and the microenvironment, which can aid in the development of therapeutics and diagnostic tools. In recent years, single-cell technologies have become increasingly robust and accessible, although limitations exist. In this review, we describe the recent advances in single-cell technologies and their applications in single-cell manipulation, diagnosis, and therapeutics development.

A Self-Digitization Dielectrophoretic (SD-DEP) Chip for High-Efficiency Single-Cell Capture, On-Demand Compartmentalization, and Downstream Nucleic Acid Analysis

The design and fabrication of a self-digitization dielectrophoretic (SD-DEP) chip with simple components for single-cell manipulation and downstream nucleic acid analysis is presented. The device employed the traditional DEP and insulator DEP to create the local electric field that is tailored to approximately the size of single cells, enabling highly efficient single-cell capture. The multistep procedures of cell manipulation, compartmentalization, lysis, and analysis were performed in the integrated microdevice, consuming minimal reagents, minimizing contamination, decreasing lysate dilution, and increasing assay sensitivity. The platform developed here could be a promising and powerful tool in single-cell research for precise medicine.

Recent advances in the use of microfluidic technologies for single cell analysis

The inherent heterogeneity in cell populations has become of great interest and importance as analytical techniques have improved over the past decades. With the advent of personalized medicine, understanding the impact of this heterogeneity has become an important challenge for the research community. Many different microfluidic approaches with varying levels of throughput and resolution exist to study single cell activity. In this review, we take a broad view of the recent microfluidic developments in single cell analysis based on microwell, microchamber, and droplet platforms. We cover physical, chemical, and molecular biology approaches for cellular and molecular analysis including newly emerging genome-wide analysis.

Microfluidic Platform for Parallel Single Cell Analysis for Diagnostic Applications

Cell populations are heterogeneous: they can comprise different cell types or even cells at different stages of the cell cycle and/or of biological processes. Furthermore, molecular processes taking place in cells are stochastic in nature. Therefore, cellular analysis must be brought down to the single cell level to get useful insight into biological processes, and to access essential molecular information that would be lost when using a cell population analysis approach. Furthermore, to fully characterize a cell population, ideally, information both at the single cell level and on the whole cell population is required, which calls for analyzing each individual cell in a population in a parallel manner. This single cell level analysis approach is particularly important for diagnostic applications to unravel molecular perturbations at the onset of a disease, to identify biomarkers, and for personalized medicine, not only because of the heterogeneity of the cell sample, but also due to the availability of a reduced amount of cells, or even unique cells. This chapter presents a versatile platform meant for the parallel analysis of individual cells, with a particular focus on diagnostic applications and the analysis of cancer cells. We first describe one essential step of this parallel single cell analysis protocol, which is the trapping of individual cells in dedicated structures. Following this, we report different steps of a whole analytical process, including on-chip cell staining and imaging, cell membrane permeabilization and/or lysis using either chemical or physical means, and retrieval of the cell molecular content in dedicated channels for further analysis. This series of experiments illustrates the versatility of the herein-presented platform and its suitability for various analysis schemes and different analytical purposes.

Using Electrophoretic Immunoassay to Monitor Hormone Secretion

It has been demonstrated that microfluidic systems allow integration of sampling, reagent mixing, and rapid electrophoretic analysis. They have also proven useful for culturing cells wherein control over the environment allows novel and automated experiments. Here, we describe a microchip-based electrophoresis assay that allows cell culture and hormone monitoring. An online gradient generator can control cell culture condition precisely. This system has been applied for Pancreas islets' glucose sensitivity studies.

Microfluidic plug steering using surface acoustic waves

Digital microfluidic systems, in which isolated droplets are dispersed in a carrier medium, offer a method to study biological assays and chemical reactions highly efficiently. However, it's challenging to manipulate these droplets in closed microchannel devices. Here, we present a method to selectively steer plugs (droplets with diameters larger than the channel's width) at a specially designed Y-junction within a microfluidic chip. The method makes use of surface acoustic waves (SAWs) impinging on a multiphase interface in which an acoustic contrast is present. As a result, the liquid-liquid interface is subjected to acoustic radiation forces. These forces are exploited to steer plugs into selected branches of the Y-junction. Furthermore, the input power can be finely tuned to split a plug into two uneven plugs. The steering of plugs as a whole, based on plug volume and velocity is thoroughly characterized. The results indicate that there is a threshold plug volume after which the steering requires elevated electrical energy input. This plug steering method can easily be integrated to existing lab-on-a-chip devices and it offers a robust and active plug manipulation technique in closed microchannels.

Photoactivated bioconjugation between ortho-azidophenols and anilines: a facile approach to biomolecular photopatterning

Methods for the surface patterning of small molecules and biomolecules can yield useful platforms for drug screening, synthetic biology applications, diagnostics, and the immobilization of live cells. However, new techniques are needed to achieve the ease, feature sizes, reliability, and patterning speed necessary for widespread adoption. Herein, we report an easily accessible and operationally simple photoinitiated reaction that can achieve patterned bioconjugation in a highly chemoselective manner. The reaction involves the photolysis of 2-azidophenols to generate iminoquinone intermediates that couple rapidly to aniline groups. We demonstrate the broad functional group compatibility of this reaction for the modification of proteins, polymers, oligonucleotides, peptides, and small molecules. As a specific application, the reaction was adapted for the photolithographic patterning of azidophenol DNA on aniline glass substrates. The presence of the DNA was confirmed by the ability of the surface to capture living cells bearing the sequence complement on their cell walls or cytoplasmic membranes. Compared to other light-based DNA patterning methods, this reaction offers higher speed and does not require the use of a photoresist or other blocking material.

Microfluidics for manipulating cells

Microfluidics, a toolbox comprising methods for precise manipulation of fluids at small length scales (micrometers to millimeters), has become useful for manipulating cells. Its uses range from dynamic management of cellular interactions to high-throughput screening of cells, and to precise analysis of chemical contents in single cells. Microfluidics demonstrates a completely new perspective and an excellent practical way to manipulate cells for solving various needs in biology and medicine. This review introduces and comments on recent achievements and challenges of using microfluidics to manipulate and analyze cells. It is believed that microfluidics will assume an even greater role in the mechanistic understanding of cell biology and, eventually, in clinical applications.

3D numerical simulation of a lab-on-a-chip--increasing measurement sensitivity of interdigitated capacitors by passivation optimization

Interdigital electrode structures (IDES) play a major role in many technical and analytical applications. In particular, they are a key technology in modern lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices. As high sensitivity is a key component of any (bio)analytical method, the presented work is aimed at designing a novel dielectric sensing system, which exhibits maximum sensor sensitivity using passivated dielectric microsensors. Although the implementation of high-ε(r) dielectric passivation materials such as tantalum oxide or titanium oxide showed increased sensor sensitivity by a factor of 5, simulations revealed that sensor sensitivity is ultimately determined by the dielectric properties of the analyte. Ideally, dielectric properties of the passivation material need to be adjusted to the dielectric properties of the material under investigation and any deviations (e.g. higher or lower dielectric constants) will result in significant loss of sensitivity. To address these shortcomings we have developed a novel dielectric sensing concept based on a dual-material passivation geometry. The novel design consists of electric flux barriers that are layered between the finger electrodes, as well as electric flux guides which are located above the electrode structures that direct the entire generated electric flux to the object under investigation. Our 3D numerical results clearly show that the novel design offers two main advantages: firstly, the measurement sensitivity is further increased by more than a factor of two in comparison to a homogeneous passivation material sensing strategy. Secondly, maximum sensitivity for a given set of finger geometries can be achieved using a single sensor design regardless of the frequency-dependent dielectric properties of the measured objects. Hence, the novel approach is capable of reducing design and manufacturing costs of lab-on-a-chip devices.

High-throughput single-cell manipulation system for a large number of target cells

A sequential and high-throughput single-cell manipulation system for a large volume of cells was developed and the successive manipulation for single cell involving single-cell isolation, individual labeling, and individual rupture was realized in a microhydrodynamic flow channel fabricated by using two-dimensional simple flow channels. This microfluidic system consisted of the successive single-cell handlings of single-cell isolation from a large number of cells in cell suspension, labeling each isolated single cell and the lysate extraction from each labeled single cell. This microfluidic system was composed of main channels, cell-trapping pockets, drain channels, and single-cell content collection channels which were fabricated by polydimethylsiloxane. We demonstrated two kinds of prototypes for sequential single-cell manipulations, one was equipped with 16 single-cell isolation pockets in microchannel and the other was constructed of 512 single-cell isolation pockets. In this study, we demonstrated high-throughput and high-volume single-cell isolation with 512 pocket type device. The total number of isolated single cells in each isolation pocket from the cell suspension at a time was 426 for the cell line of African green monkey kidney, COS-1, and 360 for the rat primary brown preadipocytes, BAT. All isolated cells were stained with fluorescence dye injected into the same microchannel successfully. In addition, the extraction and collection of the cell contents was demonstrated using isolated stained COS-1 cells. The cell contents extracted from each captured cell were individually collected within each collection channel by local hydrodynamic flow. The sequential trapping, labeling, and content extraction with 512 pocket type devices realized high-throughput single-cell manipulations for innovative single-cell handling, feasible staining, and accurate cell rupture.

Single cells as experimentation units in lab-on-a-chip devices

'Lab-on-a-chip' technology (LOC) has now reached a mature state and is employed commonly in research in the life sciences. LOC devices make novel experimentation possible while providing a sophisticated environment for cellular investigation. As a next step, we introduce here the concept of a 'lab-in-a-cell': the use of a single cell as a minimal and highly confined experimental unit, or experimentation in the simple, but still unequalled, platform provided by nature itself. LOC provides the appropriate format and set of tools for LIC experimentation, and we discuss here three types of LIC investigation: the elucidation of signaling pathways; the creation of novel production units; and the use of microfluidics for assisted reproduction techniques.

DNA-barcode directed capture and electrochemical metabolic analysis of single mammalian cells on a microelectrode array

A microdevice is developed for DNA-barcode directed capture of single cells on an array of pH-sensitive microelectrodes for metabolic analysis. Cells are modified with membrane-bound single-stranded DNA, and specific single-cell capture is directed by the complementary strand bound in the sensor area of the iridium oxide pH microelectrodes within a microfluidic channel. This bifunctional microelectrode array is demonstrated for the pH monitoring and differentiation of primary T cells and Jurkat T lymphoma cells. Single Jurkat cells exhibited an extracellular acidification rate of 11 milli-pH min(-1), while primary T cells exhibited only 2 milli-pH min(-1). This system can be used to capture non-adherent cells specifically and to discriminate between visually similar healthy and cancerous cells in a heterogeneous ensemble based on their altered metabolic properties.

Immunomagnetic bead-based cell concentration microdevice for dilute pathogen detection

A cell concentration microdevice for immunomagnetic pathogen isolation from a dilute sample is presented. Cells are driven by integrated on-chip pumps through a fluidized bed of immobilized immunomagnetic beads. Off-chip polymerase chain reaction and capillary electrophoretic analysis are used to determine capture efficiencies of E. coli and to optimize the system. Beads are immobilized after each split in a bifurcated channel system to ensure a balanced distribution of beads in all the capture channels. The addition of a pumping flutter step to repeatedly drive sample through the bead bed was found to enhance capture. Capture efficiencies of 70% and a limit of detection of 2 cfu/microL were achieved; specific capture of E. coli at a concentration of 100 cfu/microL in a 100-fold background of S. aureus is shown. This capture/concentration system is an important step in overcoming the macro-to-micro interface challenge in the development of microdevices for pathogen detection.

Enrichment of cancer cells using aptamers immobilized on a microfluidic channel

This work describes the development and investigation of an aptamer modified microfluidic device that captures rare cells to achieve a rapid assay without pretreatment of cells. To accomplish this, aptamers are first immobilized on the surface of a poly(dimethylsiloxane) microchannel, followed by pumping a mixture of cells through the device. This process permits the use of optical microscopy to measure the cell-surface density from which we calculate the percentage of cells captured as a function of cell and aptamer concentration, flow velocity, and incubation time. This aptamer-based device was demonstrated to capture target cells with >97% purity and >80% efficiency. Since the cell capture assay is completed within minutes and requires no pretreatment of cells, the device promises to play a key role in the early detection and diagnosis of cancer where rare diseased cells can first be enriched and then captured for detection.

Real-time detection of the early event of cytotoxicity of herbal ingredients on single leukemia cells studied in a microfluidic biochip

A microfluidic approach has been developed for the real-time detection of drug effects, based on the quantitative measurement of calibrated cytosolic calcium ([Ca(2+)](i)) on single cancer cells. This microfluidic method is rapid by detecting the early event of cytotoxicity of drug candidates on cancer cells, without waiting for a couple of days needed for cell seeding and drug treatment by conventional assays. The miniaturized biochip consists of a V-shaped structure for the single-cell selection and retention. Various test reagents such as the chemotherapy drug (daunorubicin), an ionophore (ionomycin), and herbal ingredients from licorice (isoliquiritigenin or IQ) were investigated for their abilities to stimulate sustained cellular [Ca(2+)](i) elevations. The microfluidic results obtained in hours have been confirmed by conventional cytotoxicity assays which take days to complete. Moreover, any color or chemical interference problems found in the conventional assays of herbal compounds could be resolved. Using the microfluidic approach, IQ (50 microM) has been found to cause a sustained [Ca(2+)](i) elevation and cytotoxic effects on leukemia cells. The microfluidic single-cell analysis not only reduces reagent cost, and demands less cells, but also reveals some phenomena due to cellular heterogeneity that cannot be observed in bulk analysis.

Microfluidic single-cell analysis of intracellular compounds

Biological analyses traditionally probe cell ensembles in the range of 103-106 cells, thereby completely averaging over relevant individual cell responses, such as differences in cell proliferation, responses to external stimuli or disease onset. In past years, this fact has been realized and increasing interest has evolved for single-cell analytical methods, which could give exciting new insights into genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics and systems biology. Microfluidic or lab-on-a-chip devices are the method of choice for single-cell analytical tools as they allow the integration of a variety of necessary process steps involved in single-cell analysis, such as selection, navigation, positioning or lysis of single cells as well as separation and detection of cellular analytes. Along with this advantageous integration, microfluidic devices confine single cells in compartments near their intrinsic volume, thus minimizing dilution effects and increasing detection sensitivity. This review overviews the developments and achievements of microfluidic single-cell analysis of intracellular compounds in the past few years, from proof-of-principle devices to applications demonstrating a high biological relevance.

Interdigitated array microelectrodes based impedance biosensors for detection of bacterial cells

Impedance spectroscopy is a sensitive technique to characterize the chemical and physical properties of solid, liquid, and gas phase materials. In recent years this technique has gained widespread use in developing biosensors for monitoring the catalyzed reaction of enzymes; the bio-molecular recognition events of specific proteins, nucleic acids, whole cells, antibodies or antibody-related substances; growth of bacterial cells; or the presence of bacterial cells in the aqueous medium. Interdigitated array microelectrodes (IDAM) have been integrated with impedance detection in order to miniaturize the conventional electrodes, enhance the sensitivity, and use the flexibility of electrode fabrication to suit the conventional electrochemical cell format or microfluidic devices for variety of applications in chemistry and life sciences. This article limits its discussion to IDAM based impedance biosensors for their applications in the detection of bacterial cells. It elaborates on different IDAM geometries their fabrication materials and design parameters, and types of detection techniques. Additionally, the shortcomings of the current techniques and some upcoming trends in this area are also mentioned.

Effective cell capture with tetrapeptide-functionalized carbon nanotubes and dual signal amplification for cytosensing and evaluation of cell surface carbohydrate

A novel electrochemical cytosensing strategy was designed based on the specific recognition of integrin receptors on a cell surface to arginine-glycine-aspartic acid-serine (RGDS)-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). The covalent conjugation of the RGDS tetrapeptide to SWNTs was proved with Raman and FT-IR spectra. The conjugated RGDS showed a predominant ability to capture cells on the electrode surface by the specific combination of RGD domains with integrin receptors. With the use of BGC-823 human gastric carcinoma cells (BGC cells) as a model, the cell surface mannosyl groups could specifically bind with horseradish peroxidase labeled concanavalin A, producing an electrochemical cytosensor. On the basis of the dual signal amplification of SWNTs and enzymatic catalysis, the cytosensor could respond down to 620 cells mL (-1) of BGC cells with a linear calibration range from 1.0 x 10 (3) to 1.0 x 10 (7) cells mL (-1), showing very high sensitivity. The dual signal amplification could be further used to evaluate the mannosyl groups on the cell surface, and the mannosyl groups on a single living intact BGC cell were detected to correspond to 5.3 x 10 (7) molecules of mannose. This strategy presents a promising platform for highly sensitive cytosensing and convenient evaluation of surface carbohydrates on living cells.

Self-assembled cellular microarrays patterned using DNA barcodes

The successful integration of living cells into synthetic devices requires precise control over cell patterning. Here we describe a versatile platform that can accomplish this goal through DNA hybridization. Living cells functionalized with exogenous cell-surface DNA strands bind to cognate sequences of DNA printed on glass slides. Attachment via these "cell-adhesion barcodes" is rapid and specific, with close-packed arrays of cells forming within minutes. The biophysical properties of the system are characterized, and the technique is used to form complex cellular patterns with single-cell line widths and self-assembled cellular microarrays. Key advantages of DNA-directed cell binding include the ability to immobilize both adherent and non-adherent cells, to capture cells selectively from a mixed population, to tune the binding properties of the cells, and to reuse substrates prepared with widely available DNA printing technologies.

nDEP microwells for single-cell patterning in physiological media

We present a novel technique to accurately position single cells on a substrate using negative dielectrophoresis and cell-substrate adhesion. The cells are suspended in physiological media throughout the patterning process. We also verify the biocompatibility of this method by demonstrating that the patterned cells proliferate and show normal morphology. We calculate the temperatures and transmembrane potential that cells in the device experience and compare them to physiologically acceptable levels described in previous studies.

Analysis of single mammalian cells on-chip

A goal of modern biology is to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying cellular function. The ability to manipulate and analyze single cells is crucial for this task. The advent of microengineering is providing biologists with unprecedented opportunities for cell handling and investigation on a cell-by-cell basis. For this reason, lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technologies are emerging as the next revolution in tools for biological discovery. In the current discussion, we seek to summarize the state of the art for conventional technologies in use by biologists for the analysis of single, mammalian cells, and then compare LOC devices engineered for these same single-cell studies. While a review of the technical progress is included, a major goal is to present the view point of the practicing biologist and the advances that might increase adoption by these individuals. The LOC field is expanding rapidly, and we have focused on areas of broad interest to the biology community where the technology is sufficiently far advanced to contemplate near-term application in biological experimentation. Focus areas to be covered include flow cytometry, electrophoretic analysis of cell contents, fluorescent-indicator-based analyses, cells as small volume reactors, control of the cellular microenvironment, and single-cell PCR.

Serial Immunoassays in Parallel on a Microfluidic Chip for Monitoring Hormone Secretion from Living Cells

A microfluidic chip that allows for the continuous monitoring of cellular secretions from multiple independent living samples was developed. Performance of the device was characterized through the analysis of insulin secretion from islets of Langerhans. The chip contained four individual channel networks, each capable of performing electrophoresis-based immunoassays of the perfusate from islets. In the networks, islets were housed in a chamber that was continuously perfused with pressure-driven biological media at 0.6 microL min-1. Electroosmosis was used to pull perfusate containing secreted insulin into 4-cm-long reaction channels where it mixed with fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled insulin and anti-insulin antibody for 60 s. The reaction streams were sampled at 6.25-s intervals and analyzed in parallel using an on-chip capillary electrophoresis separation with laser-induced fluorescence detection by a scanning confocal microscope. The limit of detection for insulin was 10 nM. The device was used to complete over 1450 immunoassays of biological samples in less than 40 min, allowing the parallel monitoring of insulin release from four islets every 6.25 s.

A trap-and-release integrated microfluidic system for dynamic microarray applications

Dynamic microarrays hold great promise for advancing research in proteomics, diagnostics and drug discovery. However, this potential has yet to be fully realized due to the lack of reliable multifunctional platforms to transport and immobilize particles, infuse reagents, observe the reaction, and retrieve selected particles. We achieved all these functions in a single integrated device through the combination of hydrodynamic and optical approaches. Hydrodynamic forces allow simultaneous transportation and immobilization of large number of particles, whereas optical-based microbubble technique for bead retrieval gives dexterity in handling individual particles without complicated circuitry. Based on the criterion derived in this paper, the device was designed, and fabricated using standard photolithography and soft lithography methods. We examined the dynamics of bubble formation and dissipation in the device, and parametric studies revealed that higher power settings at short intervals were more efficient than low power settings at longer intervals for bead retrieval. We also demonstrated the capabilities of our device and its potential as a tool for screening methods such as the "one-bead-one-compound" (OBOC) combinatorial library method. Although both approaches, hydrodynamic confinement and optical-based microbubbles, are presented in one device, they can also be separately used for other applications in microchip devices.

Multichannel Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction Microdevice for Rapid Gene Expression and Biomarker Analysis

A microdevice is developed for RNA analysis that integrates one-step reverse transcription and 30 cycles of PCR (RT-PCR) amplification with capillary electrophoresis (CE) separation and fluorescence detection of the amplicons. The four-layer glass-PDMS-glass-glass hybrid microdevice integrates microvalves, on-chip heaters and temperature sensors, nanoliter reaction chambers (380 nL), and 5-cm-long CE separation channels. The direct integration of these processes results in attomolar detection sensitivity (<11 template RNA molecules or approximately 0.1 cellular equiv) and rapid 45-min analysis, while minimizing sample waste and eliminating contamination. Size-based electrophoretic product analysis provides definitive amplicon-size verification and multiplex analysis. Multiplexed differential gene expression analysis is demonstrated on mdh and gyrB E. coli transcripts. RNA splice variant analysis of the RBBP8 gene is used to identify tumorigenic tissue. RT-PCR microdevice analysis of normal breast tissue RNA generates the expected 202-bp normal splice isoform; tumor breast tissue RNA samples generate a 151-bp amplicon signifying the presence of the tumorigenic splice variant. The ability to perform RNA transcript and splice variant biomarker analysis establishes our RT-PCR microdevice as a versatile gene expression platform.

Engineered systems for the physical manipulation of single cells

Manipulating the physical location of cells is useful both to organize cells in vitro and to separate cells during screening. The quest to manipulate cells on length scales commensurate with their size has led to a host of technologies exploiting optical, chemical, mechanical, electrical, and other phenomena. Researchers interested in organizing cells are gaining the ability to pattern more than two cell types, to create dynamic surfaces, and to pattern cells in the third dimension. In the realm of cell separation for screening, there has been significant progress in miniaturized flow-based optical sorters as well as in sorting following static microscopic observation.