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Microdroplet-based cell culture models and their application

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Abstract

Microfluidic systems offer precisely controlled experimental conditions for efficient study of mammalian cells, ranged from a single cell to matrixbased three-dimensional (3D) in vitro culture models. droplet-based microfluidic system is a robust and highly reproducible device enabling encapsulation of a cell or cells within well-confined microenvironment. Recently, such droplet-based cell culture models have drawn much attention due to their unique properties such that conventional culture systems couldn’t provide. The encapsulation of cells in specifically designed aqueous phase of a microfluidic system can provide profound understand of cell to cell and cell to extracellular matrix interactions, also can be used to regulate various cell behaviors. A droplet-based cell culture system allows better control over confinement for culturing, maintaining, and analyzing cells, such as high-throughput screening. In this review, we discuss recent researches on microdroplet-based 3D cell culture models, and advanced applications of microfluidic systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bio and Brain Engineering, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea

    Minjeong Jang, Seungwon Yang & Pilnam Kim

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  1. Minjeong Jang
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  2. Seungwon Yang
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  3. Pilnam Kim
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Correspondence to Pilnam Kim.

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Jang, M., Yang, S. & Kim, P. Microdroplet-based cell culture models and their application. BioChip J 10, 310–317 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13206-016-0407-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13206-016-0407-1

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