Issue 13, 2017

Universal signal generator for dynamic cell stimulation

Abstract

Dynamic cell stimulation is a powerful technique for probing gene networks and for applications in stem cell differentiation, immunomodulation and signaling. We developed a robust and flexible method and associated microfluidic devices to generate a wide-range of precisely formulated dynamic chemical signals to stimulate live cells and measure their dynamic response. This signal generator is capable of digital to analog conversion (DAC) through combinatoric selection of discrete input concentrations, and outperforms existing methods by both achievable resolution, dynamic range and simplicity in design. It requires no calibration, has minimal space requirements and can be easily integrated into microfluidic cell culture devices. The signal generator hardware and software we developed allows to choose the waveform, period and amplitude of chemical input signals and features addition of well-defined chemical noise to study the role of stochasticity in cellular information processing.

Graphical abstract: Universal signal generator for dynamic cell stimulation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
17 May 2017
Accepted
19 May 2017
First published
22 May 2017

Lab Chip, 2017,17, 2218-2224

Universal signal generator for dynamic cell stimulation

A. Piehler, N. Ghorashian, C. Zhang and S. Tay, Lab Chip, 2017, 17, 2218 DOI: 10.1039/C7LC00531H

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