Microfluidic gradient platforms for controlling cellular behavior.
Concentration gradients play an important role in controlling biological and pathological processes, such as metastasis, embryogenesis, axon guidance, and wound healing. Microfluidic devices fabricated by photo- and soft lithography techniques can manipulate the fluidic flow and diffusion profile to create biomolecular gradients in a temporal and spatial manner. Furthermore, microfluidic devices enable the control of cell-extracellular microenvironment interactions, including cell-cell, cell-matrix, and cell-soluble factor interaction. In this paper, we review the development of microfluidic-based gradient devices and highlight their biological applications.
Chung
Bong Geun
BG
Department of Bionano Engineering, Hanyang University, Ansan, Korea. bchung@hanyang.ac.kr
Choo
Jaebum
J
D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002633:Chemotaxis / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*