(Invited) Rapid Formation of Single-Cell Pairs for Hybrid Cells

Abstract

The attractive force of positive dielectrophoresis has been used to form the pairs of different types of cells rapidly and simply. Two different types of cells were successively directed into the individual wells fabricated on the microwell array electrodes. The width (16 μm) and depth (25 μm) of the microwells restricted the size to two vertically aligned cells. Mouse myeloma cells stained in blue were trapped within 1 s in the microwells by p-DEP by applying an alternating current voltage. The cells were retained inside the wells even after switching off the voltage and washing with a fluidic flow. K562 cells stained in green were then trapped in the microwells occupied by the myeloma cells to form the vertical cell pairing in the microwells. Two types of cells were paired within only 1 min and a pairing efficiency of 53% was achieved.