2 research outputs found
Generating Arbitrary Chemical Patterns for Multipoint Dosing of Single Cells
Living cells reside within anisotropic
microenvironments that orchestrate a broad range of polarized responses
through physical and chemical cues. To unravel how localized chemical
signals influence complex behaviors, tools must be developed for establishing
patterns of chemical gradients that vary over subcellular dimensions.
Here, we present a strategy for addressing this critical need in which
an arbitrary number of chemically distinct, subcellular dosing streams
are created in real time within a microfluidic environment. In this
approach, cells are cultured on a thin polymer membrane that serves
as a barrier between the cell-culture environment and a reagent chamber
containing multiple reagent species flowing in parallel under low
Reynolds number conditions. Focal ablation of the membrane creates
pores that allow solution to flow from desired regions within this
reagent pattern into the cell-culture chamber, resulting in narrow,
chemically distinct dosing streams. Unlike previous dosing strategies,
this system provides the capacity to tailor arbitrary patterns of
reagents on the fly to suit the geometry and orientation of specific
cells