Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 2, 2026
12:25
Counting Proteins in Single Cells with Addressable Droplet Microarrays
Published on: July 6, 2018
On-chip background noise reduction for cell-based assays in droplets.
Pascaline Mary1, Angela Chen, Irwin Chen
1School of Engineering and Applied Sciences/Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Lab on a Chip
|May 5, 2011
Summary
This study introduces a novel microfluidic method for diluting droplet contents, overcoming limitations in high-throughput biological assays. This technique enhances signal-to-noise ratios for single-cell analysis in droplet microfluidics.
Area of Science:
- Microfluidics
- Biotechnology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Droplet microfluidics enables high-throughput biological assays using picolitre-scale reaction vessels.
- Current limitations include difficulty in washing reagents, restricting applications to homogeneous assays.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a method for effective droplet content dilution in microfluidic systems.
- To overcome the limitations of reagent washing in droplet-based assays.
- To enable sensitive single-cell analysis by reducing background noise.
Main Methods:
- Utilized electrocoalescence to merge droplets with a larger solvent drop, increasing volume up to 14-fold.
- Employed a series of T-junctions to break down the enlarged droplet into smaller ones.
- Integrated the dilution system within a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) device.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated a repeatable dilution and break-up process for reagent concentration reduction.
- Successfully performed cell surface labeling assays with yeast cells.
- Achieved enhanced signal-to-noise ratio, distinguishing single-cell fluorescence from background.
Conclusions:
- The developed microfluidic dilution system effectively reduces reagent concentration in droplets.
- This method significantly improves the ability to detect low-level signals, such as cell surface fluorescence.
- The technique broadens the applicability of droplet microfluidics for sensitive biological analyses.
