Isolation of primary brain endothelial cells, pericytes and astrocytes on a microfluidic immunopanning chip (MIC)

Abstract

Brain microvascular cells such as brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMEC), pericytes, and astrocytes are major components of the blood–brain barrier (BBB). The BBB regulates substance transport from the blood into the brain and is involved in the progression of many neurological diseases. This has led to significant interest in developing in vitro models to study the characteristics of brain primary microvascular cells and the BBB. However, BMECs only account for 1–2% of the total cell population in the brain and are extremely difficult to obtain. We report a microfluidic immunopanning chip (MIC) for the on-chip isolation and purification of multiple types of primary brain microvascular cells simultaneously. The cell isolation efficiency and purity achieved with the MIC are higher compared with conventional bench-top immunopanning method. We incorporated microcarriers in the MIC as a means to increase cell capturing efficiency and a substrate for subsequent cell culture. With low reagents consumption, multiplexing capabilities, and high isolation efficiency, the MIC shows great potential as a tool for rare cell isolation and have potential broader applications in cell therapy.