title: Vacuum-assisted cell seeding in a microwell cell culture system.
abstract: We present a simple method to actively pattern individual cells and groups of cells in a polymer-based microdevice using vacuum-assisted cell seeding. Soft lithography is used to mold polymer microwells with various geometries on top of commercially available porous membranes. Cell suspensions are placed in a vacuum filtration setup to pull culture medium through the microdevice, trapping the cells in the microwells. The process is evaluated by determining the number of cells per microwell for a given cell seeding density and microwell geometry. This method is tested with adherent and nonadherent cells (NIH 3T3 fibroblasts, PANC-1 pancreatic ductal epithelial-like cells, and THP-1 monocytic leukemia cells). These devices could find applications in high-throughput cell screening, cell transport studies, guided formation of cell clusters, and tissue engineering.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ferrell
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gallego-Perez
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Higuita-Castro
authors.forename: Randall T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: Rashmeet K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Reen
authors.forename: Keith J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Gooch
authors.forename: Derek J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hansford
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002460:Cell Line; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D014618:Vacuum