High-throughput microfluidic compressibility cytometry using multi-tilted-angle surface acoustic wave.

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Cell Biology
• Microfluidics

Background:

• Cellular mechanical properties are crucial biophysical markers for understanding cell function.
• Existing acoustofluidic methods for cell mechanics lack high throughput.
• There is a need for advanced techniques to measure single-cell mechanical properties efficiently.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a high-throughput microfluidic compressibility cytometry approach.
• To utilize multi-tilted-angle surface acoustic waves for cell mechanical measurements.
• To enable thousands of single-cell compressibility measurements within minutes.

Main Methods:

• Developed a microfluidic device employing multi-tilted-angle surface acoustic waves.
• Used the balance between acoustic forces and fluid flow to position particles/cells based on properties.
• Validated the method with microbeads and analyzed MDA MB231 cancer cells.

Main Results:

• The developed cytometer achieved high-throughput measurement of single-cell compressibility.
• Cell compressibility was accurately estimated from sidewall collision position.
• Colchicine increased compressibility, cytochalasin B increased size but not compressibility in MDA MB231 cells.
• Highly metastatic MDA MB231 LNm5 cells exhibited increased compressibility.

Conclusions:

• The developed acoustofluidic cytometry offers a powerful tool for high-throughput cell mechanophenotyping.
• This method can distinguish mechanical differences in cancer cell lines and in response to drug treatments.
• The technique holds potential for tumor cell characterization and understanding cancer progression.