A microfluidic flow-through device for high throughput electrical lysis of bacterial cells based on continuous dc...

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Microfluidics
• Cell Biology

Background:

• Electrical lysis offers a method for intracellular content recovery without chemical agents.
• Microfluidic platforms enable precise control and rapid processing of biological samples.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a microfluidic device for efficient electrical lysis of Escherichia coli cells using continuous DC voltage.
• To investigate the effect of geometric modifications on field amplification and voltage requirements for cell lysis.
• To establish the optimal field strength for achieving high cell death rates and complete membrane disintegration.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a microfluidic flow-through device using soft lithography.
• Application of continuous DC voltage for cell lysis of genetically modified E. coli expressing GFP.
• Detection of cell lysis using plate counts and fluorescence spectroscopy.
• Analysis of cell membrane integrity at different field strengths.

Main Results:

• Achieved nearly 100% cell death at a local field strength of 1000-1500 V/cm.
• Geometric modification reduced required lysis voltage and localized lysis to a defined channel section.
• Complete cell membrane disintegration observed at field strengths exceeding 2000 V/cm.
• Device demonstrated stable performance with large channel widths, preventing clogging.

Conclusions:

• The developed microfluidic device provides a simple, low-cost, and efficient method for electrical cell lysis.
• Continuous DC voltage simplifies instrumentation compared to pulsed methods.
• The technology is suitable for high-throughput analysis of intracellular contents like DNA and proteins.
• The approach holds potential for lysis of mammalian cells and electroporative transfection.