一种新型细胞趋化迁移微流控通道的构建及表征

A new micro-fluidic channel that provides stable biochemical gradients for cell migration and chemotaxis

细胞迁移、趋化在多种生理和病理过程中扮演着重要角色.传统方法,如琼脂糖平板法、Transwell小室法等大多是在单因素条件下检测细胞迁移情况,不能建立起多参数可控的实验环境.微粒流控芯片能保证迁移试验在多参数条件下完成并进行实时观测,然而制作微芯片采用的光刻法工艺复杂、成本昂贵.本文采用聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)铸模,抽去微丝后制成一种高500?m的微通道,在通道中可生成持续的较恒定的浓度梯度和压力梯度.将通道应用于细胞趋化试验中,进一步验证了这种微流动通道制作技术的可行性和适用性.

Cell migration and chemotaxis play an important role in many physiological and pathological processes. Traditional methods such as agarose plate culture and the transwell chamber model can only detect cell migration induced by a single factor. Microfluidic chips overcome this limitation and further provide multi-parameter conditions and real-time observation. However, microchips are mostly constructed using photolithography, a typically expensive procedure. We introduce an accessible platform made of polydimethylsiloxane, which provides the structure of the microchannel with microwires. These microwires were elongated to form a cross-channel structure with a 500-μm depth. The micro-fluid channel demonstrated a long-lasting concentration gradient that was maintained for up to 2 h, and a pressure gradient that was maintained for up to 3 d. The chemotactic responses of human endothelial cells within the cross- channel were further studied, and the feasibility and applicability of producing this technology were verified.