title: Microfluidic platforms for the investigation of intercellular signalling mechanisms.
abstract: Intercellular signalling has been identified as a highly complex process, responsible for orchestrating many physiological functions. While conventional methods of investigation have been useful, their limitations are impeding further development. Microfluidics offers an opportunity to overcome some of these limitations. Most notably, microfluidic systems can emulate the in-vivo environments. Further, they enable exceptionally precise control of the microenvironment, allowing complex mechanisms to be selectively isolated and studied in detail. There has thus been a growing adoption of microfluidic platforms for investigation of cell signalling mechanisms. This review provides an overview of the different signalling mechanisms and discusses the methods used to study them, with a focus on the microfluidic devices developed for this purpose.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, & Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Sofia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nahavandi
authors.forename: Shi-Yang
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baratchi
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Soffe
authors.forename: Saeid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nahavandi
authors.forename: Kourosh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kalantar-zadeh
authors.forename: Arnan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: Khashayar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Khoshmanesh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D004058:Diffusion; D004867:Equipment Design; D017629:Gap Junctions / Q000378:metabolism; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000379:methods*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013569:Synapses / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins
keywords: cell signalling; cellular assays; microfluidics; signalling mechanisms