title: Single-cell trapping and selective treatment via co-flow within a microfluidic platform.
abstract: Lab on a chip (LOC) systems provide interesting and low-cost solutions for key studies and applications in the biomedical field. Along with microfluidics, these microdevices make single-cell manipulation possible with high spatial and temporal resolution. In this work we have designed, fabricated and characterized a versatile and inexpensive microfluidic platform for on-chip selective single-cell trapping and treatment using laminar co-flow. The combination of co-existing laminar flow manipulation and hydrodynamic single-cell trapping for selective treatment offers a cost-effective solution for studying the effect of novel drugs on single-cells. The operation of the whole system is experimentally simple, highly adaptable and requires no specific equipment. As a proof of concept, a cytotoxicity study of ethanol in isolated hepatocytes is presented. The developed microfluidic platform controlled by means of co-flow is an attractive and multipurpose solution for the study of new substances of high interest in cell biology research. In addition, this platform will pave the way for the study of cell behavior under dynamic and controllable fluidic conditions providing information at the individual cell level. Thus, this analysis device could also hold a great potential to easily use the trapped cells as sensing elements expanding its functionalities as a cell-based biosensor with single-cell resolution.
authors.affiliation: CEIT-IK4 and Tecnun, University of Navarra, Manuel de Lardizabal 15, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain; CIC microGUNE, Goiru Kalea 9, 20500 Arrasate-Mondragon, Spain. Electronic address: abenavente@ceit.es.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Benavente-Babace
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gallego-Pérez
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hansford
authors.affiliation: CEIT-IK4 and Tecnun, University of Navarra, Manuel de Lardizabal 15, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain; CIC microGUNE, Goiru Kalea 9, 20500 Arrasate-Mondragon, Spain.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arana
authors.affiliation: CEIT-IK4 and Tecnun, University of Navarra, Manuel de Lardizabal 15, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain; CIC microGUNE, Goiru Kalea 9, 20500 Arrasate-Mondragon, Spain.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pérez-Lorenzo
authors.affiliation: CEIT-IK4 and Tecnun, University of Navarra, Manuel de Lardizabal 15, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain; CIC microGUNE, Goiru Kalea 9, 20500 Arrasate-Mondragon, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mujika
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002460:Cell Line; D004867:Equipment Design; D000431:Ethanol / Q000633:toxicity*; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D051379:Mice; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D059010:Single-Cell Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation*; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol
keywords: Cell-based biosensor; Laminar co-flow; Microfluidic chip; Single-cell analysis; Toxicity assay