title: Microfluidic Devices for Behavioral Analysis, Microscopy, and Neuronal Imaging in Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: Microfluidic devices offer several advantages for C. elegans research, particularly for presenting precise physical and chemical environments, immobilizing animals during imaging, quantifying behavior, and automating screens. However, challenges to their widespread adoption in the field include increased complexity over conventional methods, operational problems (such as clogging, leaks, and bubbles), difficulty in obtaining or fabricating devices, and the need to characterize biological results obtained from new assay formats. Here we describe the preparation and operation of simple, reusable microfluidic devices for quantifying behavioral responses to chemical patterns, and single-use devices to arrange animals for time-lapse microscopy and to measure neuronal activity. We focus on details that eliminate or reduce the frustrations commonly experienced by new users of microfluidic devices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609-2280, USA.
authors.forename: Ross C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Lagoy
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609-2280, USA. dalbrecht@wpi.edu.|Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609-2280, USA. dalbrecht@wpi.edu.
authors.forename: Dirk R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Albrecht
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000502:physiology*; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Caenorhabditis elegans; Chemical stimulation; Locomotion; Microfluidics; Neuronal imaging; PDMS; Quantitative behavior; Time-lapse microscopy