title: Electrotaxis of oral squamous cell carcinoma cells in a multiple-electric-field chip with uniform flow field.
abstract: We report a new design of microfluidic chip (Multiple electric Field with Uniform Flow chip, MFUF chip) to create multiple electric field strengths (EFSs) while providing a uniform flow field simultaneously. MFUF chip was fabricated from poly-methyl methacrylates (PMMA) substrates by using CO2 laser micromachining. A microfluidic network with interconnecting segments was utilized to de-couple the flow field and the electric field (EF). Using our special design, different EFSs were obtained in channel segments that had an identical cross-section and therefore a uniform flow field. Four electric fields with EFS ratio of 7.9:2.8:1:0 were obtained with flow velocity variation of only 7.8% CV (coefficient of variation). Possible biological effect of shear force can therefore be avoided. Cell behavior under three EFSs and the control condition, where there is no EF, was observed in a single experiment. We validated MFUF chip performance using lung adenocarcinoma cell lines and then used the chip to study the electrotaxis of HSC-3, an oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line. The MFUF chip has high throughput capability for studying the EF-induced cell behavior under various EFSs, including the control condition (EFS = 0).
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophotonics, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan ; Research Center for Applied Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan ; Biophotonics and Molecular Imaging Research Center (BMIRC), National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsieh-Fu
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Shih-Wei
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Chun-Ying
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Hui-Fang
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Ji-Yen
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Cheng