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Updated: Jan 2, 2026
Designing Microfluidic Devices for Studying Cellular Responses Under Single or Coexisting Chemical/Electrical/Shear Stress Stimuli
Published on: August 13, 2016
An integrated microfluidic device for studying controllable gas embolism induced cellular responses
Peng Ma1, Shanshan Wang2, Ruixue Guan1
1The Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics-Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Systems Biology Theme, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
This study developed a microfluidic device to precisely control microbubbles and analyze cell responses to gas embolism. Short-term bubble contact did not harm endothelial cells, but triggered calcium signaling and propagation.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cell Biology
- Physiology
Background:
- Gas embolism, the presence of bubbles in the vasculature, can cause localized ischemia.
- Understanding cellular responses to bubble contact is crucial for studying embolism mechanisms and ischemic diseases.
- A controllable method for analyzing cell-bubble interactions is needed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop an integrated microfluidic device for precise generation and control of microbubbles.
- To investigate the effects of microbubble mechanical contact on cultured endothelial cells.
- To elucidate the mechanisms of intercellular calcium signaling triggered by bubble expansion.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of a microfluidic device utilizing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) gas permeability for microbubble generation.
- Exposure of cultured endothelial cells to precisely controlled microbubbles.
- Cell viability assays to assess the impact of short-term bubble contact.
- Intracellular calcium imaging to monitor calcium dynamics and intercellular propagation.
Main Results:
- Short-term (<15 min) microbubble contact was generally non-lethal to endothelial cells.
- Microbubble expansion induced a significant increase in intracellular calcium in contacted cells.
- Calcium signals propagated to adjacent cells, indicating intercellular communication.
- Suramin and octanol treatments suggested the involvement of cell-released nucleotides and gap junctions in calcium wave propagation.
Conclusions:
- The developed microfluidic platform enables controlled study of gas embolism effects on adherent cells.
- Cellular responses to microbubbles involve calcium signaling and intercellular communication.
- This method can be utilized for testing anti-embolism drugs.
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