title: Applying microdroplets as sensors for label-free detection of chemical reactions.
abstract: Despite its tremendous high-throughput screening capabilities, widespread applications of droplet-based microfluidics are still limited by the poor availability of appropriate analytical assays. Here we report on a novel sensor method that exploits the osmosis-driven change in droplet size as a quantitative and label-free marker for reactions inside the droplets. We present an analysis of the underlying mechanism and apply the method for monitoring metabolic activity at a single-cell level.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Department of New Materials and Biosystems, Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Tobias W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Hofmann
authors.forename: Siegfried
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hänselmann
authors.forename: Jan-Wilhelm
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Janiesch
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rademacher
authors.forename: Christian H J
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Böhm
mesh_terms: D002478:Cells, Cultured; D007700:Kinetics; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000379:methods*; D053769:Nanocapsules / Q000737:chemistry*; D009995:Osmosis; D010316:Particle Size; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D015003:Yeasts / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D053769:Nanocapsules; D013501:Surface-Active Agents