Abstract
Cells have different intrinsic markers such as mechanical and electrical properties, which may be used as specific characteristics. Here, we present a microfluidic chip configured with two opposing optical fibers and four 3D electrodes for multiphysical parameter measurement. The chip leverages optical fibers to capture and stretch a single cell and uses 3D electrodes to achieve rotation of the single cell. According to the stretching deformation and rotation spectrum, the mechanical and dielectric properties can be extracted. We provided proof of concept by testing five types of cells (HeLa, A549, HepaRG, MCF7 and MCF10A) and determined five biophysical parameters, namely, shear modulus, steady-state viscosity, and relaxation time from the stretching deformation and area-specific membrane capacitance and cytoplasm conductivity from the rotation spectra. We showed the potential of the chip in cancer research by observing subtle changes in the cellular properties of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1)-induced epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) A549 cells. The new chip provides a microfluidic platform capable of multiparameter characterization of single cells, which can play an important role in the field of single-cell research.
Highlights
Among many biophysical properties[1], mechanical[2] and electrical[3] properties are intrinsic markers[4] that can be used as cellular-specific characteristics in disease diagnostics[5], drug screening[6], and personalized medicine[7]
We found that the deformability of the HeLa, A549, and MCF7 cells was significantly larger than that of the HepaRG and MCF10A cells
The results indicate that HeLa, A549, and MCF7 cancer cells have a lower shear modulus than HepaRG and MCF10A normal cells, further confirming that the cancer cells are softer
Summary
Among many biophysical properties[1], mechanical[2] and electrical[3] properties are intrinsic markers[4] that can be used as cellular-specific characteristics in disease diagnostics[5], drug screening[6], and personalized medicine[7]. Continuing efforts have been made to measure the mechanical and electrical properties of cells and have resulted in many exciting technological advances[8,9]. As single-cell analysis has arisen, precise manipulation and analysis of single cells with the aid of microfluidics has become popular[10,11,12]. A microfluidic chip integrates multiple miniaturized modules to allow both manipulation and analysis of single-cell samples[13,14,15]. There are two ways to measure multiple biophysical parameters.
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