Abstract
Abstract. Endogenous electric fields (EFs) play an important role in many biological processes. In order to gain an insight into these biological phenomena, externally applied electric fields are used to study cellular responses. In this work, we report the construction and fabrication of a direct current (DC)-electrically stimulated microfluidic biochip and its validation with murine photoreceptor-derived 661 W cells. The presented device has the particularity of offering a non-homogeneous EF environment that best resembles the endogenous electric fields in vitro. The fabrication process is relatively easy, namely by photolithography and soft lithography techniques and, furthermore, it enables live-cell imaging under an inverted microscope. First experimental results reveal cathodal directional cell migration upon applied DC EFs. In summary, the microfluidic biochip has proven biocompatibility and suitability for cellular electrotaxis experiments in non-homogeneous DC electric fields.
Highlights
Directed cell migration is essential in a variety of biological processes such as wound healing, cancer metastasis, regeneration and immune responses (Condeelis et al, 1992)
We describe the construction and fabrication of a microfluidic biochip, which allows the measurement of cell motility in response to non-homogeneous direct current (DC) electric fields
The microfluidic biochip is composed of three main components: the channel plate assembly made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) on a polycarbonate (PC) base plate, the top plate which consists of an SU-8 membrane and a cell culture chamber, and lastly, the Ag/AgCl electrodes as electrical connections to the electrolyte-filled channels
Summary
Directed cell migration is essential in a variety of biological processes such as wound healing, cancer metastasis, regeneration and immune responses (Condeelis et al, 1992). There are diverse external cues like chemokines, cell–cell contacts, growth factors and the extracellular matrix environment that regulate cell migration (Entschladen and Zänker, 2010). In addition to these chemical and mechanical stimuli are the less well-recognized endogenous electric fields (EFs). This electrical stimulus has been shown to play an important role in many cell biological phenomena, ranging from cell adhesion, migration, embryonic and tissue development to wound healing (Levin, 2003; Nuccitelli, 2003; Robinson and Messerli, 2003; McCaig et al, 2005; Funk et al, 2009; Messerli and Graham, 2011; Funk, 2015). We describe the construction and fabrication of a microfluidic biochip, which allows the measurement of cell motility in response to non-homogeneous DC electric fields
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