title: Microfluidics for manipulating cells.
abstract: Microfluidics, a toolbox comprising methods for precise manipulation of fluids at small length scales (micrometers to millimeters), has become useful for manipulating cells. Its uses range from dynamic management of cellular interactions to high-throughput screening of cells, and to precise analysis of chemical contents in single cells. Microfluidics demonstrates a completely new perspective and an excellent practical way to manipulate cells for solving various needs in biology and medicine. This review introduces and comments on recent achievements and challenges of using microfluidics to manipulate and analyze cells. It is believed that microfluidics will assume an even greater role in the mechanistic understanding of cell biology and, eventually, in clinical applications.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Biological Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Center for NanoScience and Technology, No. 11, Beiyitiao, ZhongGuanCun, Beijing 100190, PR China.
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.forename: Wenfu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Jiashu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xingyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016466:CHO Cells; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D003585:Cell Biology; D006224:Cricetinae; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D019169:Jurkat Cells; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000379:methods; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000379:methods*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013499:Surface Properties; D020298:U937 Cells