Dynamic trapping and high-throughput patterning of cells using pneumatic microstructures in an integrated microfluidic device

Abstract

Microfluidic trapping methods create significant opportunities to establish highly controlled cell positioning and arrangement for the microscale study of numerous cellular physiological and pathological activities. However, a simple, straightforward, dynamic, and high-throughput method for cell trapping is not yet well established. In the present paper, we report a direct active trapping method using an integrated microfluidic device with pneumatic microstructures (PμSs) for both operationally and quantitatively dynamic localization of cells, as well as for high-throughput cell patterning. We designed and fabricated U-shape PμS arrays to replace the conventional fixed microstructures for reversible trapping. Multidimensional dynamics and spatial consistency of the PμSs were optically characterized and quantitatively demonstrated. Furthermore, we performed a systematic trapping investigation of the PμSs actuated at a pressure range of 0 psi to 20 psi using three types of popularly applied mammalian cells, namely, human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells, human hepatocellular liver carcinoma HepG2 cells, and human breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells. The cells were quantitatively trapped and controlled by the U-shape PμSs in a programmatic and parallel manner, and could be opportunely released. The trapped cells with high viability were hydrodynamically protected by the real-time actuation of specifically designed umbrella-like PμSs. We demonstrate that PμSs can be applied as an active microfluidic component for large-scale cell patterning and manipulation, which could be useful in many cell-based tissue organization, immunosensor, and high-throughput imaging and screening.