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On-Chip Open Microfluidic Devices for Chemotaxis Studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 July 2012

Gus A. Wright ,
Lino Costa ,
Alexander Terekhov ,
Dawit Jowhar ,
William Hofmeister  and
Christopher Janetopoulos
Gus A. Wright
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
Lino Costa
Affiliation:
Center for Laser Applications, University of Tennessee Space Institute, Tullahoma, TN 37388, USA
Alexander Terekhov
Affiliation:
Center for Laser Applications, University of Tennessee Space Institute, Tullahoma, TN 37388, USA
Dawit Jowhar
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
William Hofmeister
Affiliation:
Center for Laser Applications, University of Tennessee Space Institute, Tullahoma, TN 37388, USA
Christopher Janetopoulos*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
*
Corresponding author. E-mail: cjanetopoulos@vanderbilt.edu
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Abstract

Microfluidic devices can provide unique control over both the chemoattractant gradient and the migration environment of the cells. Our work incorporates laser-machined micro and nanofluidic channels into bulk fused silica and cover slip-sized silica wafers. We have designed “open” chemotaxis devices that produce passive chemoattractant gradients without an external micropipette system. Since the migration area is unobstructed, cells can be easily loaded and strategically placed into the devices with a standard micropipette. The reusable monolithic glass devices have integral ports that can generate multiple gradients in a single experiment. We also used cover slip microfluidics for chemotaxis assays. Passive gradients elicited from these cover slips could be readily adapted for high throughput chemotaxis assays. We have also demonstrated for the first time that cells can be recruited into cover slip ports eliciting passive chemoattractant gradients. This proves, in principle, that intravital cover slip configurations could deliver controlled amounts of drugs, chemicals, or pathogens as well as recruit cells for proteomic or histological analysis in living animals while under microscopic observation. Intravital cover slip fluidics will create a new paradigm for in vivo observation of biological processes.

Keywords

microfluidicschemotaxislaser etchingmicroscope
Type
Biological Applications: Techniques, Software, and Equipment Development
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , August 2012 , pp. 816 - 828
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2012

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Supplementary material: PDF

Wright Supplementary Material

Supplementary Figure 1

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PDF 60.4 KB

Wright Supplementary Movie 1

Supplementary Movie 1. D. discoideum cells directionally migrating toward the cAMP source in the four-sided bulk silica device. The cAMP gradient generating port is labeled with an arrow. Total time of video is 80 min. Frames were acquired every 15 s.

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Video 24.1 MB

Wright Supplementary Movie 2

Supplementary Movie 2. D. discoideum cells directionally migrating toward and into the cAMP gradient generating ports in the first coverslip device. The gradient generating ports are labeled with white circles. The cells that enter the gradient generating ports are marked with a bold white circle just before the cells enter the port. The movie is 20 min in duration, and frames were acquired every 15 s.

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Video 5.2 MB

Wright Supplementary Movie 3

Supplementary Movie 3. D. discoideum cells migrate directionally toward and into the cAMP gradient generating ports in the second three-port cover slip device. The video is 80 min in duration, and frames were acquired every 15 s.

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Video 3.6 MB
Supplementary material: PDF

Wright Supplementary Material

Supplementary Figure 2

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PDF 112.5 KB