title: A microfluidic device for continuous cancer cell culture and passage with hydrodynamic forces.
abstract: We demonstrate a novel and robust microfluidic chip with combined functions of continuous culture and output of PC-3 prostate cancer cells. With digital controls, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) flexible diaphragms are able to apply hydrodynamic shear forces on cultures, detaching a fraction of attached cancer cells from the surface for output while leaving others for reuse in subsequent cultures. The fractions of detached cells and remaining cells can be precisely controlled. The system has not only the advantages of small size, high cell culture efficiency, and digital control, but also of simple fabrication at low cost, easy operation and robust performance. The chip performs 9 passages during 30 days of continuous culture and shows promise as a durable design suitable for long-term cell output.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Physics, Princeton University, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Liyu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Loutherback
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yeater
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Estévez-Torres
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Sturm
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Getzenberg
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Austin
mesh_terms: D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical