Systematic analysis of in vitro cell rolling using a multi-well plate microfluidic system

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cell Biology
• Immunology

Background:

• Cell-based therapies face challenges in efficiently delivering viable cells to target tissues.
• Cell homing, particularly cell rolling on the vascular endothelium, is critical for successful cell therapy.
• Existing methods like parallel plate flow chambers (PPFC) are low-throughput and have poorly controlled conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a high-throughput microfluidic system for studying cell rolling properties.
• To precisely control flow conditions and simulate inflammatory environments for in-vitro cell homing assays.
• To enable rapid analysis of cellular rolling parameters for advancing cell therapy.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a multi-well plate microfluidic system for studying cellular rolling.
• Examined rolling properties of HL-60 cells on P-selectin, E-selectin, and endothelial cell (EC)-coated surfaces.
• Simulated inflammatory conditions by activating ECs with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α).

Main Results:

• The microfluidic system demonstrated high-throughput analysis of cell rolling properties.
• Successfully examined HL-60 cell rolling on various selectin and EC-coated surfaces.
• Demonstrated significantly increased HL-60 cell interactions with activated ECs under dynamic flow.
• Integrated software enabled rapid analysis of rolling velocities and paths.

Conclusions:

• The developed microfluidic platform offers enhanced throughput and precise control for studying cell rolling in-vitro.
• This system facilitates rapid and accurate assessment of engineering strategies impacting cell rolling and homing.
• The platform holds potential for advancing exogenous cell-based therapies by improving cell delivery efficiency.