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On-chip single cell funneling operated by microfabricated thermo-responsive hydrogel layers

journal contribution
posted on 2015-09-04, 12:35 authored by Tommaso Santaniello, Yunsong Yan, Alessandro Tocchio, Federico Martello, Federico Gassa, Patrick WebbPatrick Webb, Weiwei Zhao, Margherita Tamplenizza, Carsten Schulte, Yang LiuYang Liu, David HuttDavid Hutt, Paolo Milani, Paul ConwayPaul Conway, Cristina Lenardi
We present a multilayer microfluidic system having a KrF excimer laser micro-patterned thermo-responsive poly-(N-isopropyl)-acrylamide (PNIPAAm) based hydrogel layer integrated as a freestanding component that operates as a temperature-triggered cell isolation actuator for single cell assays applications. When the system is assembled, the size of the laser machined micro-through-hole (entrance diameter is 150 μm, while exit hole diameter varies from 10 to 80 μm) can be reversibly modulated as a consequence of the polymer volumetric phase transition induced by heating the device above the critical temperature of 32 °C; as a result of the polymer water loss, the shrinkage of the layer caused the hole to homogeneously shrink, thus reducing its original size to about 40% in the polymer collapsed state. This actuation mechanism was exploited to trap a cellular sample in the shrunken exit hole on the top of the hydrogel layer by applying a negative pressure across the film when the system is brought to 37 °C. Subsequently, the funneling of the trapped cell took place through the orifice when the polymer's natural relaxation at room temperature toward its initial state occurred; the functionality of the device was proved using optical microscopy to monitor MG63 cells as a model cell line during the funneling through the size-modulating structure.

Funding

This work has been supported by Fondazione CARIPLO for the project ‘Hybrid Multifunctional Microdevices to Probe Cell Biology’, under the Program ‘Promuovere progetti internazionali finalizzati al reclutamento di giovani ricercatori’, and by The Innovative Manufacturing and Construction Research Centre in collaboration with Loughborough University and Royal Society funding for International JOINT PROJECT.

History

School

  • Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering

Published in

JOURNAL OF MICROMECHANICS AND MICROENGINEERING

Volume

25

Issue

7

Pages

1 - 12 (12)

Citation

SANTANIELLO, T. ... et al, 2015. On-chip single cell funneling operated by microfabricated thermo-responsive hydrogel layers. Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, 25 (7), 075004.

Publisher

© IOP Publishing Ltd

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

Publisher statement

This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Publication date

2015-05-22

Notes

This article is closed access.

ISSN

0960-1317

Language

  • en

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