Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2026
Revealing Electromechanical Control of Tissue Homeostasis Using a Two-Layer Microfluidic Device
Published on: September 19, 2025
Tissue engineering with electric fields: immobilization of mammalian cells in multilayer aggregates using
Anil Sebastian1, Anne-Marie Buckle, Gerard H Markx
1Microstructures and Microenvironment Research Group, School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre, 131 Princess Street, The University of Manchester, Manchester M1 7DN, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
Positive dielectrophoresis can be used to create aggregates of animal cells with 3D architectures. It is shown that the cells, when pulled together into an aggregate by positive dielectrophoresis in a low-conductivity iso-osmotic solution, adhere to each other. The adherence of the cells to each other is non-specific and increases in time, and after 10-15 min becomes strong enough to immobilize the cells in the aggregate, enabling the ac electric field to be released, and the iso-osmotic buffer to be replaced by growth or other media. Cell viability is maintained. The new method of immobilization significantly simplifies the construction of aggregates of animal cells by dielectrophoresis, and increases the utility of dielectrophoresis in tissue engineering and related areas.
