Abstract
Enabling fluids to be manipulated on the micron-scale, microfluidic technologies have facilitated major advances in how we study cells. In this review, we highlight key developments in how flow in microfluidic devices is exploited to investigate the behavior of individual cells, from trapping and positioning single cells to probing cell deformability. Exploiting the properties of fluids and flow patterns in microchannels makes it possible to study large populations of single cells at micron-length scales with increased throughput and efficiency.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
R. Skalak, P.I. Branemark, Science 164, 717 (1969)
R.T. Yen, Y.C. Fung, Am. J. Physiol. 235, H251 (1978)
G.P. Downey, G.S. Worthen, J. Appl. Physiol. 65, 1861 (1988)
J.A. Rogers, R.G. Nuzzo, Materials Today 8, 50 (2005)
D.C. Duffy, J.C. McDonald, O.J.A. Schueller, G.M. Whitesides, Anal. Chem. 70, 4974 (1998)
J.C. McDonald, D.C. Duffy, J.R. Anderson, D.T. Chiu, H. Wu, O.J. Schueller, G.M. Whitesides, Electrophoresis 21, 27 (2000)
M.C. Cole, P.J. Kenis, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical 136, 350 (2009)
L. Sohn, O. Saleh, G. Facer, A. Beavis, R. Allan, D. Notterman, Proc. National Acad. Sci. 97, 10687 (2000)
J.J. Agresti, E. Antipov, A.R. Abate, K. Ahn, A.C. Rowat, J.C. Baret, M. Marquez, A.M. Klibanov, A.D. Griffiths, D.A. Weitz, Proc. National Acad. Sci. 107 (2010)
J. Guck, S. Schinkinger, B. Lincoln, F. Wottawah, S. Ebert, M. Romeyke, D. Lenz, H.M. Erickson, R. Ananthakrishnan, D. Mitchell, et al., Biophys. J. 88, 3689 (2005)
J.M. Higgins, D.T. Eddington, S.N. Bhatia, L. Mahadevan, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104, 20496 (2007)
A. Siegel, D. Bruzewicz, D. Weibel, G.M. Whitesides, Adv. Mater. 19, 727 (2007)
J. Melin, S. Quake, Annu. Rev. Biophys. Biomol. Struct. 36, 213 (2007)
M.A. Unger, H.P. Chou, T. Thorsen, A. Scherer, S.A. Quake, Science 288, 113 (2000)
A.R. Abate, J.J. Agresti, D.A. Weitz, Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 203509 (2010)
H. Bruus, Theoretical Microfluidics (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2008)
H.A. Stone, A. Stroock, A. Ajdari, Ann. Rev. Fluid Mech. 36, 381 (2004)
T. Squires, S.R. Quake, Rev. Modern Physics 77, 977 (2005)
E. Lucchetta, J. Lee, L. Fu, N. Patel, R. Ismagilov, Nature 434, 1134 (2005)
F. Balagaddé, L. You, C.L. Hansen, F.H. Arnold, S.R. Quake, Science 309, 137 (2005)
J. Ryley, O. Pereira-Smith, Yeast 23, 14 (2006)
D. Di Carlo, L.Y. Wu, L.P. Lee, Lab on a Chip 6, 1445 (2006)
S. Nagrath, L.V. Sequist, S. Maheswaran, D.W. Bell, D. Irimia, L. Ulkus, M.R. Smith, E.L. Kwak, S. Digumarthy, A. Muzikansky, et al., Nature 450, 1235 (2007)
S.C. Hur, A.J. Mach, D. Di Carlo, Biomicrofluidics 5, 022206 (2011)
D. Di Carlo, Lab on a Chip 9, 3038 (2009)
D. Di Carlo, D. Irimia, R.G. Tompkins, M. Toner, Proc. National Acad. Sci. 104, 18892 (2007)
S. Hur, N. Henderson-MacLennan, E. McCabe, D. Di Carlo, Lab on a Chip 11, 912 (2011)
Z. Wu, B. Willing, J. Bjerketorp, J.K. Jansson, L. Hjort, Lab on a Chip 9, 1193 (2009)
E.S. Asmolov, A.A. Osiptsov, Phys. Fluids 21, 063301 (2009)
S. Kuntaegowdanahalli, A. Bhagat, G. Kumar, I. Papautsky, Lab on a Chip 9, 2973 (2009)
H.A. Nieuwstadt, R. Seda, D.S. Li, J.B. Fowlkes, J.L. Bull, Biomedical Microdevices 13, 97 (2011)
Y.S. Choi, K.W. Seo, S.J. Lee, Lab on a Chip 11, 460 (2011)
C.A. Stan, L. Guglielmini, A.K. Ellerbee, D. Caviezel, H.A. Stone, G.M. Whitesides, Phys. Rev. E 84, 036302 (2011)
A.C. Rowat, J. Bird, J.J. Agresti, O.J. Rando, D.A. Weitz, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106, 18149 (2009)
R. Gómez-Sjöberg, A.A. Leyrat, D.M. Pirone, C.S. Chen, S.R. Quake, Analytical Chem. 79, 8557 (2007)
S. Anna, N. Bontoux, H. Stone, Appl. Phys. Lett. 82, 364 (2003)
J. Guck, R. Ananthakrishnan, H. Mahmood, T. Moon, C. Cunningham, J. Ks, Biophys. J. 81, 767 (2001)
T.W. Remmerbach, F. Wattawah, J. Dietrich, B. Lincoln, C. Wittekind, J. Guck, Cancer Res. 69, 1728 (2009)
J. Guck, R. Ananthakrishnan, T. Moon, C. Cunningham, J. Ks, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 5451 (2000)
Y.B. Lu, K. Franze, G. Seifert, C. Steinhuser, F. Kirchhoff, H. Wolburg, J. Guck, P. Janmey, E.Q. Wei, J. Ks, et al., Proc. National Acad. Sci. 103, 17759 (2006)
S.S. Shevkoplyas, T. Yoshida, L.L. Munn, M.W. Bitensky, Analytical Chem. 77, 933 (2005)
G. Charvin, F.R. Cross, E.D. Siggia, PLoS one 3, e1468 (2008)
S. Cookson, N. Ostroff, W.L. Pang, D. Volfson, J. Hasty, Mol. Syst. Biol. 1, 0024 (2005)
N. Balaban, J. Merrin, R. Chait, L. Kowalik, S. Leibler, Science 305, 1622 (2004)
E. Pratt, C. Huang, B. Hawkins, J. Gleghorn, B. Kirby, Chem. Eng. Sci. 66, 1508 (2011)
S.J. Tan, L. Yobas, G.Y.H. Lee, C.N. Ong, C.T. Lim, Biomedical Microdevices 11, 883 (2009)
A.M. Skelley, O. Kirak, H. Suh, R. Jaenisch, J. Voldman, Nat. Meth. 6, 147 (2009)
A.D. Stroock, S.K. Dertinger, A. Ajdari, I. Mezic, H.A. Stone, G.M. Whitesides, Science 295, 647 (2002)
S.L. Stott, C.H. Hsu, D.I. Tsukrov, M. Yu, D.T. Miyamoto, B.A. Waltman, S.M. Rothenberg, A.M. Shah, M.E. Smas, G.K. Korir, et al., Proc. National Acad. Sci. 107, 18392 (2010)
N.L. Jeon, S.K. Dertinger, D.T. Chiu, I.S. Choi, A.D. Stroock, G.M. Whitesides, Langmuir 16, 8311 (2000)
K.R. King, S. Wang, A. Jayaraman, M.L. Yarmush, M. Toner, Lab on a Chip 8, 107 (2008)
S. Paliwal, P.A. Iglesias, K. Campbell, Z. Hilioti, A. Groisman, A. Levchenko, Nature 446, 46 (2007)
M. Skoge, M. Adler, A. Groisman, H. Levine, W.F. Loomis, W.J. Rappel, Integrative Biol. 2, 659 (2010)
O. Amadi, M. Steinhauser, Y. Nishi, S. Chung, R. Kamm, A. McMahon, R. Lee, Biomedical Microdevices 12, 1027 (2010)
C. Holtze, A.C. Rowat, J.J. Agresti, J.B. Hutchison, F.E. Angile, C.H.J. Schmitz, S. Koster, H. Duan, K.J. Humphry, R.A. Scanga, et al., Lab on a Chip 8, 1632 (2008)
J.F. Edd, D. Di Carlo, K.J. Humphry, S. Köster, D. Irimia, D.A. Weitz, M. Toner, Lab on a Chip 8, 1262 (2008)
J.C. Baret, O.J. Miller, V. Taly, M. Ryckelynck, A. El-Harrak, L. Frenz, C. Rick, M.L. Samuels, J.B. Hutchison, J.J. Agresti, et al., Lab on a Chip 9, 1850 (2009)
D.R. Link, S.L. Anna, D.A. Weitz, H.A. Stone, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 054503 (2004)
A.R. Abate, T. Hung, P. Mary, J.J. Agresti, D.A. Weitz, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 107, 19163 (2010)
C. Schmitz, A.C. Rowat, S. Köster, D.A. Weitz, Lab on a Chip 9, 44 (2009)
C. Schmitz, A.C. Rowat, S. Koester, J.J. Agresti, D.A. Weitz, Microfluidic device for storage and well-defined arrangement of droplets, Patent No. WO/2009/134395 (2009)
J.F. Zhong, Y. Chen, J.S. Marcus, A. Scherer, S.R. Quake, C.R. Taylor, L.P. Weiner, Lab on a Chip 68, 68 (2008)
P.C. Blainey, A.C. Mosier, A. Potanina, C.A. Francis, S.R. Quake, PLoS One 6, e16626 (2011)
H.C. Fan, J. Wang, A. Potanina, S.R. Quake, Nature Biotechnol. 29, 51 (2011)
S.J. Maerkl, S.R. Quake, Science 315, 233 (2007)
D. Gerber, S.J. Maerkl, S.R. Quake, Nat. Meth. 6, 71 (2009)
D. Pushkarev, N.F. Neff, S.R. Quake, Nat. Biotechnol. 27, 847 (2009)
L. Cai, N. Friedman, X. Xie, Nature 440, 358 (2006)
C. Doerschuk, N. Beyers, H. Coxson, B. Wiggs, J. Hogg, J. Appl. Physiol. 74, 3040 (1993)
T. Merkel, S. Jones, K. Herlihy, F. Kersey, A. Shields, M. Napier, J. Luft, H. Wu, W. Zamboni, A. Wang, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 108, 586 (2011)
M. Diez-Silva, M. Dao, J. Han, C.T. Lim, S. Suresh, MRS Bull. 35, 382 (2010)
C. Lim, A. Li, Theor. Appl. Mech. Lett. 1, 014000 (2011)
S. Suresh, Acta Biomater 3, 413 (2007)
M. Teitell, S. Kalim, J. Schmit, J. Reed, Biomechanics of Single Cells and Cell Populations (Springer, US, 2010), p. 235
X. Liu, Y. Wang, Y. Sun, Real-time high-accuracy micropipette aspiration for characterizing mechanical properties of biological cells, in IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Roma, Italy, 2007), p. 1930
C. Franz, P.H. Puech, Cell. Molec. Bioengineering 1, 289 (2008)
B. Fabry, G. Maksym, R. Hubmayr, J. Butler, J. Fredberg, J. Magnet. Magnet. Mater. 194, 120 (1999)
H. Wyss, T. Franke, E. Mele, D. Weitz, Soft Matter 6, 4550 (2010)
M.A. Tsai, R. Waugh, P. Keng, Biophys. J. 74, 3282 (1998)
G.S. Worthen, r. Schwab, B., E.L. Elson, G.P. Downey, Science 245, 183 (1989)
G. Nash, Biorheology 27, 872 (1990)
S. Svenmarker, E. Jansson, Perfusion 15, 33 (2000)
L.A. Kirschenbaum, M. Aziz, M.E. Astiz, D.C. Saha, E.C. Rackow, Am. J. Respiratory Critical Care Med. 161, 1602 (2000)
M. Rosenbluth, W. Lam, D. Fletcher, Lab. Chip. 8, 1062 (2008)
W.A. Lam, M.J. Rosenbluth, D.A. Fletcher, Blood 109, 3505 (2007)
H. Hou, Q.S. Li, G.Y.H. Lee, A.P. Kumar, C.N. Ong, C.T. Lim, Biomedical Microdevices 11, 557 (2009)
H. Bow, I.V. Pivkin, M. Diez-Silva, S.J. Goldfless, M. Dao, J.C. Niles, S. Suresh, J. Han, Lab on a Chip 11, 1065 (2011)
T. Herricks, M. Antia, P.K. Rathod, Cellular Microbiol. 11, 1340 (2009)
J. Hogg, Physiol. Rev. 67, 1249 (1987)
J. Hogg, H. Coxson, M. Brumwell, N. Beyers, C. Doerschuk, W. MacNee, B. Wiggs, J. Appl. Physiol. 77, 1795 (1994)
M. Abkarian, M. Faivre, H.A. Stone, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103, 538 (2006)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Equal contribution.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Qi, D., Hoelzle, D.J. & Rowat, A.C. Probing single cells using flow in microfluidic devices. Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top. 204, 85–101 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2012-01554-x
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2012-01554-x