A spatiotemporally controllable chemical gradient generator via acoustically oscillating sharp-edge structures

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Microfluidics
• Cell Biology

Background:

• Stable, controllable concentration gradients are crucial for understanding cellular responses to microenvironments.
• Existing methods for gradient generation can be complex or lack precise spatiotemporal control.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an acoustofluidic gradient generator with spatiotemporal control.
• To demonstrate the device's capability in generating tunable and dynamic chemical gradients.
• To assess the biocompatibility and applicability of the device for cell migration studies.

Main Methods:

• Utilized acoustically oscillating sharp-edge structures for rapid fluid mixing.
• Employed piezoelectric transducers to control gradient profiles via voltage and actuation time.
• Validated device performance using human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HMVEC-d) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gradients.

Main Results:

• Achieved spatiotemporally controllable chemical gradients by adjusting voltage and actuation time.
• Demonstrated tunable spatial gradient profiles and pulsatile temporal gradients.
• Confirmed HMVEC-d cell migration in response to VEGF gradients and maintained cell viability under acoustic fields.

Conclusions:

• The developed acoustofluidic gradient generator offers simple fabrication and operation.
• The device provides biocompatible, compact, and spatiotemporally tunable gradient generation.
• This technology is suitable for studying dynamic cellular responses in controlled chemical microenvironments.