Home / microfluidic application note / Microfluidic cell culture / Cell biology
Microfluidics application note

MICROFLUIDIC TOOLS FOR CELL BIOLOGY

Video: Wound healing assay in microfluidic device

Introduction

Microfluidics is widely used to develop tools for cell biology. The micrometer scale of microfluidic devices is particularly adapted to work with cells, and miniaturization of the systems allow to easily implement high throughput assays. Moreover, the fluid properties at this scale help to create stable concentrations of gradients, and to precisely control fluid composition and temperature.

Recent developments of microfluidics have led to a better control of the cells’ micro-environment, enabling innovative cell biology research.

ADVANTAGES OF MICROFLUIDICS FOR CELL BIOLOGY

cell biology

Parallelization of experiments. The reduced size of microfluidic devices allows to create high throughput experiments and collect more data than with regular assays.

Cell culture medium renewal. The renewal of cell culture medium can be precisely controlled and automated.

Spatial control over fluid composition. Fluids have a laminar behavior at the micrometer scale, allowing to create gradients.

Control of temperature and gas. The small volumes used in microfluidics allow dynamic control over temperature and dissolved gas.

Control of the cells’ substrate. Thanks to micro-patterning methods, the cells’ substrate parameters can be controlled.

Compatibility with live cell imaging. Microfluidics allows to perform numerous tasks, such as drug exposure, while imaging the cellular response.

Single cell manipulation and analysis. Microfluidics allows to perform single cell manipulation in a very accurate way.

These advantages led to an increasing number of research groups using microfluidic technologies to push forward their cell biology research, as shown by the large and still increasing number of publications about microfluidics and cell biology.

Microfluidic and biology in scientific publications cell biology

Number of publications per year with the words “microfluidic” and “biology”

Source: Google Scholar

SOME APPLICATIONS for cell biology

Cell culture

Taking advantage of the precise control of microenvironment provided by microfluidics, the research community has developed numerous microfluidic devices dedicated to cell proliferation. Contrary to conventionnal cell culture, microfluidics offers the possibility to mimic in vivo micro-environments while working at a high throughput.

Shear stress assays

The small dimensions of microfluidic devices ensure laminar flows even at high velocity. Very simple microfluidic chips designs can be used for this application, such as straight channels with defined height and width. Moreover, this method allows to apply flow patterns (such as oscillatory flows) to mimic some in vivo conditions. If you want to calculate shear stress, you can find a microfluidics-adapted shear stress calculator at Darwin Microfluidics.

Chemotaxis

Microfluidics enhances conventional cell migration assays in two distinct ways. The first one is the possibility to create a stable concentration gradient at a cellular length scale, the second one is the possibility to use microfluidics for live cell imaging to quantify cellular response.

Mechanical deformation of cells

Microfluidics is a widely used tool to investigate the effect of cell deformation. Different techniques are possible: confining cells in small channels, applying a mechanical pressure on the cells thanks to deformable channels or applying shear stress using laminar flow.

Single cell encapsulation

Cells can easily be encapsulted in water-in-oil droplets, creating discrete micro-reactors. This allows to study cellular behavior at a single cell level, rather than a population average.

Organ on chip

Organs on chips are microengineered biomimetic systems that replicate key functions of living organs. These microdevices provide a more accurate model than conventional cell culture for simulating complex cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions.

You will find hereafter a short list of microfluidic publications about cell biology. If you wish to add a specific publication to this list, please contact us!

  1. Whitesides, G. M. (2006). The origins and the future of microfluidics. Nature, 442(7101), 368-373.
  2. Young, E. W., & Beebe, D. J. (2010). Fundamentals of microfluidic cell culture in controlled microenvironments. Chemical Society Reviews, 39(3), 1036-1048.
  3. Yi, C., Li, C. W., Ji, S., & Yang, M. (2006). Microfluidics technology for manipulation and analysis of biological cells. Analytica Chimica Acta, 560(1), 1-23.
  4. El-Ali, J., Sorger, P. K., & Jensen, K. F. (2006). Cells on chips. Nature,442(7101), 403-411.
  5. Dittrich, P. S., & Manz, A. (2006). Lab-on-a-chip: microfluidics in drug discovery. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 5(3), 210-218.
  6. Velve-Casquillas, G., Le Berre, M., Piel, M., & Tran, P. T. (2010). Microfluidic tools for cell biological research. Nano Today, 5(1), 28-47.
Want to run a similar experiment? Feel free to contact us at: contact@elveflow.com
Elveflow team at work

    How can we help you?




    We will answer within 24 hours

    By filling in your info you accept that we use your data.

    Contact
    How can we help you?
    Quoteor technical request Job application Job
    application
    Collaboration or partnerships Collaborations
    or partnerships
    Customer support Customer
    support
    Others questions Other

      Get a quote




      We will answer within 24 hours

      By filling in your info you accept that we use your data.

      Contacting for
      a job application?
      We are happy that you are interested in Elveflow. You can apply to our open jobs or send us your open application on WelcomeToTheJungle. Over here!

        Collaborations




        We will answer within 24 hours

        By filling in your info you accept that we use your data.

          Need customer support?







          I hereby agree that Elveflow uses my personal data

          We will answer within 24 hours

            How can we help you?




            We will answer within 24 hours

            By filling in your info you accept that we use your data.