title: Direct drug cocktail analyses using microscale vortex-assisted electroporation.
abstract: Combination therapy has become one of the leading approaches for treating complex diseases because it coadministers clinically proven drugs to concurrently target multiple signaling pathways of diseased cells. Identification of synergic drug combinations at their respective effective doses without unwanted accumulative side effects is the key to success for such therapy. In this work, we demonstrate the feasibility of the vortex-assisted microfluidic electroporation system for direct drug cocktail analyses where drug substances were individually delivered into cytosols in a sequential and dosage-controlled manner. Through quantitative analyses, the synergic combinational dosage ratios of the chemotherapeutic drug and the anticancer flavonoid were identified. When integrated with high-throughput label-free rare cell purification techniques, the presented system has the potential for development of personalized medicines as the system would be capable of comprehensively assessing drug combinations directly on patients' cellular samples.
authors.affiliation: The Rowland Institute at Harvard University , 100 Edwin H. Land Boulevard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States.
authors.forename: Dwayne A L
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Vickers
authors.forename: Mengxing
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ouyang
authors.forename: Chris Hyunseok
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Soojung Claire
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Hur
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000032:analysis* / Q000494:pharmacology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D018274:Electroporation / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D044085:Microfluidics