Producing Giant Unilamellar Vesicles (GUVs) with Microfluidics

Cell-sized GUV picture adapted from Ho et al. (2016), double emulsion production with oleic acid by Teh, Shia-Yen, et al. (2011)

GIANT UNILAMELLAR VESICLE PRODUCTION

Use Case

Plug-and-play kit for the creation of monodisperse giant unilamellar vesicles (GUV)

Unilamelar GUVs fabrication

Bottom-up methodology for biomimetic structures larger than 1 µm

Automated high-output production

Create giant unilamellar vesicles using custom sequences

Monodispersity and reproducibility

Control over alternative GUV synthesizing methods like electro-formation

Talk to an expert

Highlights

For researchers focused on artificial cell creation, origin-of-life studies, or the development of synthetic building blocks for applications like drug delivery and diagnostics, producing giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) is a critical task.

Setup

Checklist: Setting Up a GUV Production System

Obtain Necessary Equipment:
- OB1 flow controller
- Double emulsions chip (e.g., microfluidic ChipShop fluidic 1032)
Prepare the Fluid Channels:
- Inner aqueous solution (1st channel)
- Oil/lipid-based solution (2nd channel)
- Outer aqueous solution (3rd channel)
Assemble the Microfluidic Setup:
- Connect the OB1 flow controller to the three fluid channels.
- Ensure the channels converge at the junctions of the double emulsions chip.
Test and Optimize:
- Verify precise control over fluid flow using the OB1 controller.
- Adjust as needed for GUV production.
Adapt for Other Applications:
- Modify the setup for other double emulsion application processes if required.

Applications

GUVs can be used for various applications such as:

Membrane-protein interaction assays
Drug delivery studies
Artificial cell-like systems
Encapsulation assays
Membrane deformation studies
and much more!

References

C. Wyatt Shields IV, Catherine D. Reyes and Gabriel P. López, Microfluidic cell sorting: a review of the advances in the separation of cells from debulking to rare cell isolation. Lab Chip, 2015, 15, 1230-1249
Gossett, D.R., Weaver, W.M., Mach, A.J. et al. Label-free cell separation and sorting in microfluidic systems. Anal Bioanal Chem 397, 3249–3267 (2010)
Villanueva J., Shaffer D., Philip J., Chaparro C., Erdjument-Bromage H., Olshen A., Fleisher M., Lilja H., Brogi E., Boyd J., Sanchez-Carbayo M., Holland E., Cordon-Cardo C., Scher H., Tempst P., Differential exoprotease activities confer tumor-specific serum peptidome patterns, J. Clin. Invest., 116, 271–284 (2006)
Jinong Li, Zhen Zhang, Jason Rosenzweig, Young Y Wang, Daniel W Chan, Proteomics and Bioinformatics Approaches for Identification of Serum Biomarkers to Detect Breast Cancer, Clinical Chemistry, 48, 8, 1 August 2002, 1296–1304
Pu Chen, Xiaojun Feng, Wei Du, Bi-Feng Liu, Microfluidic chips for cell sorting, Frontiers in Bioscience 13, 2464-2483, January 1, 2008
Nivedita, N., Ligrani, P. & Papautsky, I. Dean Flow Dynamics in Low-Aspect Ratio Spiral Microchannels. Sci Rep 7, 44072 (2017).
Zhang J., Yan S., Yuan D., Alici G., Nguyen N-T., Warkiani M.E., Li W., Fundamentals and applications of inertial microfluidics: a review, Lab Chip, 2016, 16, 10-34
Al-Faqheri, W., Thio, T.H.G., Qasaimeh, M.A. et al. Particle/cell separation on microfluidic platforms based on centrifugation effect: a review. Microfluid Nanofluid 21, 102 (2017).
Yoon DH, Ha JB, Bahk YK, et al. Size-selective separation of micro beads by utilizing secondary flow in a curved rectangular microchannel. Lab on a Chip. 2009 Jan;9(1):87-90.

Configuration

Personalise your setup

Our setups can be altered to meet your unique requirements. For instance, this setup can have a sequential injection feature that makes it simple to alter the membrane’s composition when producing enormous unilamellar vesicles. Depending on your demands, our microfluidic specialists will assist you in selecting the appropriate tools and accessories, and they will be there to guide you through the microfluidic platform setup process. – Check our other use cases for various applications –