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Endothelialized Microfluidics for Studying Microvascular Interactions in Hematologic Diseases
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Microfluidics-enabled 96-well perfusion system for high-throughput tissue engineering and long-term all-optical
Lai Wei1, Weizhen Li, Emilia Entcheva
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA. entcheva@gwu.edu zhenyu@gwu.edu.
Lab on a Chip
|September 30, 2020
Summary
A new microfluidics system enables continuous cell perfusion for high-throughput studies. This technology supports long-term electrophysiology in human cells, advancing personalized medicine applications.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cell Biology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- High-throughput screening requires robust cell culture and monitoring systems.
- Current methods often lack the ability for long-term, uninterrupted perfusion crucial for chronic studies.
- All-optical electrophysiology offers a non-invasive method for studying excitable cells.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a novel high-throughput microfluidics-enabled uninterrupted perfusion system (HT-μUPS).
- To assess the system's utility in acute and chronic all-optical electrophysiology.
- To evaluate the impact of HT-μUPS on cell viability and functional responses in human excitable cells.
Main Methods:
- Manufacturing of a soft multichannel microfluidic plate cover compatible with 96-well plates.
- Application of HT-μUPS for acute and chronic all-optical electrophysiology.
- Utilizing human induced pluripotent stem-cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CM) and engineered excitable (spiking HEK) cells.
- Monitoring of voltage and calcium responses under spontaneous and optogenetic pacing.
Main Results:
- The HT-μUPS maintained functional voltage and calcium responses in iPSC-CM and spiking HEK cells.
- Long-term culture using HT-μUPS improved cell viability and optogenetically-tracked calcium responses.
- The system demonstrated compatibility with high-throughput all-optical electrophysiology.
Conclusions:
- The HT-μUPS is a novel and effective system for uninterrupted cell perfusion in high-throughput applications.
- This technology supports long-term all-optical electrophysiology studies in human excitable cells.
- The HT-μUPS has the potential to advance cell-based assays for personalized medicine using patient-derived cells.
