A Three-Dimensional Printed Inertial Microfluidic Platform for Isolation of Minute Quantities of Vital Mitochondria

We demonstrate a fast and easy-to-use three-dimensional printed microfluidic platform for mitochondria isolation from cell and tissue lysates based on inertial microfluidics. We present and quantify the quality of the isolated mitochondria by measuring the respiration rate under various conditions. We demonstrate that the technology produces vital mitochondria of equal quality to traditional, but more burdensome, differential centrifugation. We anticipate that the availability of improved tools for studies of bioenergetics to the broader biological community will enable these and other links to be explored in more meaningful ways, leading to further understanding of the links between energy, health, and disease.