Related Experiment Videos
Effect of flow and surface conditions on human lymphocyte isolation using microfluidic chambers
Shashi K Murthy1, Aaron Sin, Ronald G Tompkins
1Center for Engineering in Medicine and Surgical Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.
Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids
|December 15, 2004
Summary
This study developed a microfluidic device for isolating pure lymphocyte subpopulations, T and B cells, by optimizing flow conditions and surface chemistry for improved cell adhesion and reproducibility.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Biotechnology
- Microfluidics
Background:
- Phenotypically pure lymphocyte subpopulations are crucial for understanding immune responses.
- Isolating these cells presents challenges, especially with minimal preprocessing.
- Current methods often require extensive cell tagging, complicating analysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate microfluidic separation of T and B lymphocytes.
- To optimize flow conditions and surface chemistry for cell adhesion.
- To develop a method for isolating pure lymphocyte subpopulations with minimal preprocessing.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing microfluidic chambers coated with antibodies for cell separation.
- Examining the effect of shear stress on lymphocyte adhesion.
- Incorporating poly(ethylene glycol) chains with antibodies on chamber surfaces.
Main Results:
- Lymphocyte adhesion decreased with increasing shear stress.
- Poly(ethylene glycol) incorporation enhanced adhesion reproducibility.
- The microfluidic technique effectively isolated pure lymphocyte subpopulations from mixtures.
Conclusions:
- Microfluidic devices with optimized surface chemistry offer an effective method for lymphocyte isolation.
- This approach minimizes preprocessing, enabling purer cell subpopulations.
- The technique is valuable for studying immune responses in various conditions.