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Wang J, Ma P, Kim DH, Liu BF, Demirci U. Towards Microfluidic-Based Exosome Isolation and Detection for Tumor Therapy. NANO TODAY 2021; 37:101066. [PMID: 33777166 PMCID: PMC7990116 DOI: 10.1016/j.nantod.2020.101066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 32.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Exosomes are a class of cell-secreted, nano-sized extracellular vesicles with a bilayer membrane structure of 30-150 nm in diameter. Their discovery and application have brought breakthroughs in numerous areas, such as liquid biopsies, cancer biology, drug delivery, immunotherapy, tissue repair, and cardiovascular diseases. Isolation of exosomes is the first step in exosome-related research and its applications. Standard benchtop exosome separation and sensing techniques are tedious and challenging, as they require large sample volumes, multi-step operations that are complex and time-consuming, requiring cumbersome and expensive instruments. In contrast, microfluidic platforms have the potential to overcome some of these limitations, owing to their high-precision processing, ability to handle liquids at a microscale, and integrability with various functional units, such as mixers, actuators, reactors, separators, and sensors. These platforms can optimize the detection process on a single device, representing a robust and versatile technique for exosome separation and sensing to attain high purity and high recovery rates with a short processing time. Herein, we overview microfluidic strategies for exosome isolation based on their hydrodynamic properties, size filtration, acoustic fields, immunoaffinity, and dielectrophoretic properties. We focus especially on advances in label-free isolation of exosomes with active biological properties and intact morphological structures. Further, we introduce microfluidic techniques for the detection of exosomal proteins and RNAs with high sensitivity, high specificity, and low detection limits. We summarize the biomedical applications of exosome-mediated therapeutic delivery targeting cancer cells. To highlight the advantages of microfluidic platforms, conventional techniques are included for comparison. Future challenges and prospects of microfluidics towards exosome isolation applications are also discussed. Although the use of exosomes in clinical applications still faces biological, technical, regulatory, and market challenges, in the foreseeable future, recent developments in microfluidic technologies are expected to pave the way for tailoring exosome-related applications in precision medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Wang
- Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection, Bio-Acoustic MEMS in Medicine (BAMM) Laboratory, Department of Radiology, School of Medicine Stanford University, Palo Alto, California 94304-5427, USA
- Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection, Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California 94305, USA
| | - Peng Ma
- Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection, Bio-Acoustic MEMS in Medicine (BAMM) Laboratory, Department of Radiology, School of Medicine Stanford University, Palo Alto, California 94304-5427, USA
- Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics 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
- Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection, Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California 94305, USA
| | - Daniel H Kim
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
- Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection, Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California 94305, USA
| | - Bi-Feng Liu
- Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics 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
| | - Utkan Demirci
- Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection, Bio-Acoustic MEMS in Medicine (BAMM) Laboratory, Department of Radiology, School of Medicine Stanford University, Palo Alto, California 94304-5427, USA
- Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection, Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California 94305, USA
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Disease diagnostics using hydrodynamic flow focusing in microfluidic devices: Beyond flow cytometry. Biomed Eng Lett 2020; 10:241-257. [PMID: 32431954 DOI: 10.1007/s13534-019-00144-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2019] [Revised: 11/23/2019] [Accepted: 11/28/2019] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The multi-disciplinary field of microfluidics has the potential to provide solutions to a diverse set of problems. It offers the advantages of high-throughput, continuous, rapid and expeditious analysis requiring minute quantities of sample. However, even as this field has yielded many mass-manufacturable and cost-efficient point-of-care devices, its direct and practical applications into the field of disease diagnostics still remain limited and largely overlooked by the industry. This review focuses on the phenomenon of hydrodynamic focusing and its potential to materialize solutions for appropriate diagnosis and prognosis. The study aims to look beyond its intended cytometric applications and focus on unambiguous disease detection, monitoring, drug delivery, studies conducted on DNA and highlight the instances in the scientific literature that have proposed such approach.
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Liu C, Li Y, Liu BF. Micromixers and their applications in kinetic analysis of biochemical reactions. Talanta 2019; 205:120136. [DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2019.120136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2019] [Revised: 07/03/2019] [Accepted: 07/08/2019] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
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Gidde RR, Pawar PM. Flow Feature Analysis of T-Junction Wavy Micromixer for Mixing Application. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL REACTOR ENGINEERING 2019. [DOI: 10.1515/ijcre-2018-0306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The mixing of fluids in wavy micromixer and wavy micromixer with obstacles on its side walls has been numerically investigated. The effect of frequency of wavy channel on mixing performance is studied over a range of Reynolds number from 0.1 to 45. Various performance characteristics viz. the mixing index, pressure drop, performance index, and pumping power are used to analyze the overall mixing performance. The results show that the wavy micromixer with obstacles produces better mixing performance than the wavy micromixer. Also, the mixing index is sensitive to the wavy frequency of the channel. The wavy micromixer exhibits the smallest pressure drop as compared to micromixer with obstacles in all cases.
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Mercadal PA, Motrich RD, Coronado EA. A Plasmonic Approach to Study Protein Interaction Kinetics through the Dimerization of Functionalized Ag Nanoparticles. Sci Rep 2019; 9:13122. [PMID: 31511649 PMCID: PMC6739483 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-49583-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2018] [Accepted: 08/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the kinetics of protein interactions plays a key role in biology with significant implications for the design of analytical methods for disease monitoring and diagnosis in medical care, research and industrial applications. Herein, we introduce a novel plasmonic approach to study the binding kinetics of protein-ligand interactions following the formation of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) dimers by UV-Vis spectroscopy that can be used as probes for antigen detection and quantification. To illustrate and test the method, the kinetics of the prototype biotin-streptavidin (Biot-STV) pair interaction was studied. Controlled aggregates (dimers) of STV functionalized Ag NPs were produced by adding stoichiometric quantities of gliadin-specific biotinylated antibodies (IgG-Biot). The dimerization kinetics was studied in a systematic way as a function of Ag NPs size and at different concentrations of IgG-Biot. The kinetics data have shown to be consistent with a complex reaction mechanism in which only the Ag NPs attached to the IgG-Biot located in a specific STV site are able to form dimers. These results help in elucidating a complex reaction mechanism involved in the dimerization kinetics of functionalized Ag NPs, which can serve as probes in surface plasmon resonance-based bioassays for the detection and quantification of different biomarkers or analytes of interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo A Mercadal
- INFIQC-CONICET, Centro Láser de Ciencias Moleculares, Departamento de Fisicoquímica, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Ruben D Motrich
- CIBICI-CONICET, Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Eduardo A Coronado
- INFIQC-CONICET, Centro Láser de Ciencias Moleculares, Departamento de Fisicoquímica, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina.
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Rapid three-dimensional microfluidic mixer for high viscosity solutions to unravel earlier folding kinetics of G-quadruplex under molecular crowding conditions. Talanta 2016; 149:237-243. [DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2015.11.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2015] [Revised: 11/11/2015] [Accepted: 11/16/2015] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
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Kise DP, Reddish MJ, Dyer RB. Sandwich-format 3D printed microfluidic mixers: a flexible platform for multi-probe analysis. JOURNAL OF MICROMECHANICS AND MICROENGINEERING : STRUCTURES, DEVICES, AND SYSTEMS 2015; 25:124002. [PMID: 26855478 PMCID: PMC4737954 DOI: 10.1088/0960-1317/25/12/124002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
We report on a microfluidic mixer fabrication platform that increases the versatility and flexibility of mixers for biomolecular applications. A sandwich-format design allows the application of multiple spectroscopic probes to the same mixer. A polymer spacer is 'sandwiched' between two transparent windows, creating a closed microfluidic system. The channels of the mixer are defined by regions in the polymer spacer that lack material and therefore the polymer need not be transparent in the spectral region of interest. Suitable window materials such as CaF2 make the device accessible to a wide range of optical probe wavelengths, from the deep UV to the mid-IR. In this study, we use a commercially available 3D printer to print the polymer spacers to apply three different channel designs into the passive, continuous-flow mixer, and integrated them with three different spectroscopic probes. All three spectroscopic probes are applicable to each mixer without further changes. The sandwich-format mixer coupled with cost-effective 3D printed fabrication techniques could increase the applicability and accessibility of microfluidic mixing to intricate kinetic schemes and monitoring chemical synthesis in cases where only one probe technique proves insufficient.
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Nunes PS, Kjaerulff S, Dufva M, Mogensen KB. Real-time direct cell concentration and viability determination using a fully automated microfluidic platform for standalone process monitoring. Analyst 2015; 140:4007-20. [PMID: 25923294 DOI: 10.1039/c5an00478k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
The industrial production of cells has a large unmet need for greater process monitoring, in addition to the standard temperature, pH and oxygen concentration determination. Monitoring the cell health by a vast range of fluorescence cell-based assays can greatly improve the feedback control and thereby ensure optimal cell production, by prolonging the fermentation cycle and increasing the bioreactor output. In this work, we report on the development of a fully automated microfluidic system capable of extracting samples directly from a bioreactor, diluting the sample, staining the cells, and determining the total cell and dead cells concentrations, within a time frame of 10.3 min. The platform consists of custom made stepper motor actuated peristaltic pumps and valves, fluidic interconnections, sample to waste liquid management and image cytometry-based detection. The total concentration of cells is determined by brightfield microscopy, while fluorescence detection is used to detect propidium iodide stained non-viable cells. This method can be incorporated into facilities with bioreactors to monitor the cell concentration and viability during the cultivation process. Here, we demonstrate the microfluidic system performance by monitoring in real time the cell concentration and viability of yeast extracted directly from an in-house made bioreactor. This is the first demonstration of using the Dean drag force, generated due to the implementation of a curved microchannel geometry in conjunction with high flow rates, to promote passive mixing of cell samples and thus homogenization of the diluted cell plug. The autonomous operation of the fluidics furthermore allows implementation of intelligent protocols for administering air bubbles from the bioreactor in the microfluidic system, so that these will be guided away from the imaging region, thereby significantly improving both the robustness of the system and the quality of the data.
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Affiliation(s)
- P S Nunes
- Technical University of Denmark, Department for Micro- and Nanotechnology, Denmark.
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Dey KK, Das S, Poyton MF, Sengupta S, Butler PJ, Cremer PS, Sen A. Chemotactic separation of enzymes. ACS NANO 2014; 8:11941-11949. [PMID: 25243599 DOI: 10.1021/nn504418u] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
We demonstrate a procedure for the separation of enzymes based on their chemotactic response toward an imposed substrate concentration gradient. The separation is observed within a two-inlet, five-outlet microfluidic network, designed to allow mixtures of active (ones that catalyze substrate turnover) and inactive (ones that do not catalyze substrate turnover) enzymes, labeled with different fluorophores, to flow through one of the inlets. Substrate solution prepared in phosphate buffer was introduced through the other inlet of the device at the same flow rate. The steady-state concentration profiles of the enzymes were obtained at specific positions within the outlets of the microchannel using fluorescence microscopy. In the presence of a substrate concentration gradient, active enzyme molecules migrated preferentially toward the substrate channel. The excess migration of the active enzyme molecules was quantified in terms of an enrichment coefficient. Experiments were carried out with different pairs of enzymes. Coupling the physics of laminar flow of liquid and molecular diffusion, multiphysics simulations were carried out to estimate the extent of the chemotactic separation. Our results show that, with appropriate microfluidic arrangement, molecular chemotaxis leads to spontaneous separation of active enzyme molecules from their inactive counterparts of similar charge and size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krishna Kanti Dey
- Department of Chemistry, ‡Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
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Li Y, Liu C, Feng X, Xu Y, Liu BF. Ultrafast Microfluidic Mixer for Tracking the Early Folding Kinetics of Human Telomere G-Quadruplex. Anal Chem 2014; 86:4333-9. [DOI: 10.1021/ac500112d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Ying Li
- Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics 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
| | - Chao Liu
- Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics 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
- Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics 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
| | - Youzhi Xu
- Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics 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
- Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics 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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Mironov GG, Okhonin V, Khan N, Clouthier CM, Berezovski MV. Conformational Dynamics of DNA G-Quadruplex in Solution Studied by Kinetic Capillary Electrophoresis Coupled On-line with Mass Spectrometry. ChemistryOpen 2014; 3:58-64. [PMID: 24808992 PMCID: PMC4000168 DOI: 10.1002/open.201400002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2014] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
G-quadruplex-forming DNA/RNA sequences play an important role in the regulation of biological functions and development of new anticancer and anti-aging drugs. In this work, we couple on-line kinetic capillary electrophoresis with mass spectrometry (KCE-MS) to study conformational dynamics of DNA G-quadruplexes in solution. We show that peaks shift and its widening in KCE can be used for measuring rate and equilibrium constants for DNA–metal affinity interactions and G-quadruplex formation; and ion mobility mass spectrometry (IM-MS) provides information about relative sizes, absolute molecular masses and stoichiometry of DNA complexes. KCE-MS separates a thrombin-binding aptamer d[GGTTGGTGTGGTTGG] from mutated sequences based on affinity to potassium, and reveals the apparent equilibrium folding constant (KF≈150 μm), folding rate constant (kon≈1.70×103 s−1 m−1), unfolding rate constant (koff≈0.25 s−1), half-life time of the G-quadruplex (t1/2≈2.8 s), and relaxation time (τ≈3.9 ms at physiological 150 mm [K+]). In addition, KCE-MS screens for a GQ-stabilizing/-destabilizing effect of DNA binding dyes and an anticancer drug, cisplatin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gleb G Mironov
- Department of Chemistry, University of Ottawa 10 Marie Curie, Ottawa K1N 6N5 (Canada)
| | - Victor Okhonin
- Department of Chemistry, University of Ottawa 10 Marie Curie, Ottawa K1N 6N5 (Canada)
| | - Nasrin Khan
- Department of Chemistry, University of Ottawa 10 Marie Curie, Ottawa K1N 6N5 (Canada)
| | | | - Maxim V Berezovski
- Department of Chemistry, University of Ottawa 10 Marie Curie, Ottawa K1N 6N5 (Canada)
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