Cell confinement in patterned nanoliter droplets in a microwell array by wiping.
Cell patterning is useful for a variety of biological applications such as tissue engineering and drug discovery. In particular, the ability to localize cells within distinct fluids is beneficial for a variety of applications ranging from microencapsulation to high-throughput analysis. However, despite much progress, cell immobilization and maintenance within patterned microscale droplets remains a challenge. In particular, no method currently exists to rapidly seed cells into microwell arrays in a controllable and reliable manner. In this study, we present a simple wiping technique to localize cells within arrays of polymeric microwells. This robust method produces cell seeding densities that vary consistently with microwell geometry and cell concentration. Moreover, we develop a simple theoretical model to accurately predict cell seeding density and seeding efficiency in terms of the design parameters of the microwell array and the cell density. This short-term cell patterning approach is an enabling tool to develop new high-throughput screening technologies that utilize microwell arrays containing cells for screening applications.
Kang
Lifeng
L
Center for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Hancock
Matthew J
MJ
Brigham
Mark D
MD
Khademhosseini
Ali
A
D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D055808:Drug Discovery; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D057166:High-Throughput Screening Assays; D051379:Mice; D046228:Microarray Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D012821:Silanes / Q000737:chemistry
D011108:Polymers; D012821:Silanes