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Updated: Apr 27, 2026
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A Microfluidic Technique to Probe Cell Deformability
Published on: September 3, 2014
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3D-printed microfluidic microdissector for high-throughput studies of cellular aging
Eric C Spivey1, Blerta Xhemalce, Jason B Shear
1Department of Molecular Biosciences, ‡Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, §Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, ∥Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, Texas 78712, United States.
Analytical Chemistry
|July 5, 2014
Summary
Researchers developed a new microfluidic device for studying aging in fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe). This automated system enables long-term tracking of individual cells, advancing aging research in rod-shaped organisms.
Area of Science:
- Cell biology
- Aging research
- Microfluidics
Background:
- Yeasts are crucial model organisms for studying cellular aging.
- Manual microdissection is laborious for tracking aging over many cell divisions.
- Replicative aging in fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) is understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a method for automated microdissection of fission yeast.
- To enable high-resolution, long-term observation of individual S. pombe cells.
- To facilitate high-throughput studies of aging in rod-shaped cells.
Main Methods:
- Utilized multiphoton lithography for rapid fabrication of 3D master structures.
- Developed a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based microfluidic cell-capture device.
- Implemented continuous progeny cell removal for individual cell tracking.
Main Results:
- Successfully fabricated a versatile microfluidic device for S. pombe.
- Enabled high-resolution microscopic observation of hundreds of individual cells.
- Tracked cell growth and protein aggregation in individual cells for over 100 hours.
Conclusions:
- The fission yeast lifespan microdissector (FYLM) is a powerful on-chip platform.
- FYLM enables automated, high-throughput studies of replicative aging.
- This technology advances aging research in S. pombe and other rod-shaped cells.
