Paper-Based for Isolation of Extracellular Vesicles.

Paper-based devices chemically functionalized with capturing molecules enable the isolation and characterization of extracellular vesicles (EVs) from samples of limited amount. Here, we describe the isolation of EV subpopulations from human serum samples. The morphology, content, and amount of captured EVs can be assessed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM ), transcriptome analysis, and paper-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (pELISA), respectively. A colorimetric readout can be detected from 10 µL serum within 10 min.

Continuous microfluidic assortment of interactive ligands (CMAIL).

Finding an interactive ligand-receptor pair is crucial to many applications, including the development of monoclonal antibodies. Biopanning, a commonly used technique for affinity screening, involves a series of washing steps and is lengthy and tedious. Here we present an approach termed continuous microfluidic assortment of interactive ligands, or CMAIL, for the screening and sorting of antigen-binding single-chain variable antibody fragments (scFv) displayed on bacteriophages (phages). Phages carrying native negative charges on their coat proteins were electrophoresed through a hydrogel matrix functionalized with target antigens under two alternating orthogonal electric fields. During the weak horizontal electric field phase, phages were differentially swept laterally depending on their affinity for the antigen, and all phages were electrophoresed down to be collected during the strong vertical electric field phase. Phages of different affinity were spatially separated, allowing the continuous operation. More than 10(5) CFU (colony forming unit) antigen-interacting phages were isolated with ~100% specificity from a phage library containing 3 × 10(9) individual members within 40 minutes of sorting using CMAIL. CMAIL is rapid, sensitive, specific, and does not employ washing, elution or magnetic beads. In conclusion, we have developed an efficient and cost-effective method for isolating and sorting affinity reagents involving phage display.

A PDMS-Based Microfluidic Hanging Drop Chip for Embryoid Body Formation.

The conventional hanging drop technique is the most widely used method for embryoid body (EB) formation. However, this method is labor intensive and limited by the difficulty in exchanging the medium. Here, we report a microfluidic chip-based approach for high-throughput formation of EBs. The device consists of microfluidic channels with 6 × 12 opening wells in PDMS supported by a glass substrate. The PDMS channels were fabricated by replicating polydimethyl-siloxane (PDMS) from SU-8 mold. The droplet formation in the chip was tested with different hydrostatic pressures to obtain optimal operation pressures for the wells with 1000 µm diameter openings. The droplets formed at the opening wells were used to culture mouse embryonic stem cells which could subsequently developed into EBs in the hanging droplets. This device also allows for medium exchange of the hanging droplets making it possible to perform immunochemistry staining and characterize EBs on chip.

A High-Throughput Automated Microfluidic Platform for Calcium Imaging of Taste Sensing.

The human enteroendocrine L cell line NCI-H716, expressing taste receptors and taste signaling elements, constitutes a unique model for the studies of cellular responses to glucose, appetite regulation, gastrointestinal motility, and insulin secretion. Targeting these gut taste receptors may provide novel treatments for diabetes and obesity. However, NCI-H716 cells are cultured in suspension and tend to form multicellular aggregates, preventing high-throughput calcium imaging due to interferences caused by laborious immobilization and stimulus delivery procedures. Here, we have developed an automated microfluidic platform that is capable of trapping more than 500 single cells into microwells with a loading efficiency of 77% within two minutes, delivering multiple chemical stimuli and performing calcium imaging with enhanced spatial and temporal resolutions when compared to bath perfusion systems. Results revealed the presence of heterogeneity in cellular responses to the type, concentration, and order of applied sweet and bitter stimuli. Sucralose and denatonium benzoate elicited robust increases in the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration. However, glucose evoked a rapid elevation of intracellular Ca(2+) followed by reduced responses to subsequent glucose stimulation. Using Gymnema sylvestre as a blocking agent for the sweet taste receptor confirmed that different taste receptors were utilized for sweet and bitter tastes. This automated microfluidic platform is cost-effective, easy to fabricate and operate, and may be generally applicable for high-throughput and high-content single-cell analysis and drug screening.

A microfluidic dual-well device for high-throughput single-cell capture and culture.

In vitro culture of single cells facilitates biological studies by deconvoluting complications from cell population heterogeneity. However, there is still a lack of simple yet high-throughput methods to perform single cell culture experiments. In this paper, we report the development and application of a microfluidic device with a dual-well (DW) design concept for high-yield single-cell loading (~77%) in large microwells (285 and 485 µm in diameter) which allowed for cell spreading, proliferation and differentiation. The increased single-cell loading yield is achieved by using sets of small microwells termed "capture-wells" and big microwells termed "culture-wells" according to their utilities for single-cell capture and culture, respectively. This novel device architecture allows the size of the "culture" microwells to be flexibly adjusted without affecting the single-cell loading efficiency making it useful for cell culture applications as demonstrated by our experiments of KT98 mouse neural stem cell differentiation, A549 and MDA-MB-435 cancer cell proliferation, and single-cell colony formation assay with A549 cells in this paper.

Microwells support high-resolution time-lapse imaging and development of preimplanted mouse embryos.

A vital aspect affecting the success rate of in vitro fertilization is the culture environment of the embryo. However, what is not yet comprehensively understood is the affect the biochemical, physical, and genetic requirements have over the dynamic development of human or mouse preimplantation embryos. The conventional microdrop technique often cultures embryos in groups, which limits the investigation of the microenvironment of embryos. We report an open microwell platform, which enables micropipette manipulation and culture of embryos in defined sub-microliter volumes without valves. The fluidic environment of each microwell is secluded from others by layering oil on top, allowing for non-invasive, high-resolution time-lapse microscopy, and data collection from each individual embryo without confounding factors. We have successfully cultured mouse embryos from the two-cell stage to completely hatched blastocysts inside microwells with an 89% success rate (n = 64), which is comparable to the success rate of the contemporary practice. Development timings of mouse embryos that developed into blastocysts are statistically different to those of embryos that failed to form blastocysts (p-value < 10(-10), two-tailed Student's t-test) and are robust indicators of the competence of the embryo to form a blastocyst in vitro with 94% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Embryos at the cleavage- or blastocyst-stage following the normal development timings were selected and transferred to the uteri of surrogate female mice. Fifteen of twenty-two (68%) blastocysts and four of ten (40%) embryos successfully developed into normal baby mice following embryo transfer. This microwell platform, which supports the development of preimplanted embryos and is low-cost, easy to fabricate and operate, we believe, opens opportunities for a wide range of applications in reproductive medicine and cell biology.

Hydrogen production from banyan leaves using an atmospheric-pressure microwave plasma reactor.

Growth of the hydrogen market has motivated increased study of hydrogen production. Understanding how biomass is converted to hydrogen gas can help in evaluating opportunities for reducing the environmental impact of petroleum-based fuels. The microwave power used in the reaction is found to be proportional to the rate of production of hydrogen gas, mass of hydrogen gas produced per gram of banyan leaves consumed, and amount of hydrogen gas formed with respect to the H-atom content of banyan leaves decomposed. Increase the microwave power levels results in an increase of H2 and decrease of CO2 concentrations in the gaseous products. This finding may possibly be ascribed to the water-gas shift reaction. These results will help to expand our knowledge concerning banyan leaves and hydrogen yield on the basis of microwave-assisted pyrolysis, which will improve the design of hydrogen production technologies.

Apoptosis-like cell death induced by Salmonella in Acanthamoeba rhysodes.

Free-living amoebae act as environmental hosts of several intracellular pathogens. We examined the interaction between Acanthamoeba rhysodes and Salmonella, a human intracellular pathogen. There was no difference among three different serovars of Salmonella in terms of their growth within A. rhysodes over time. The number of intracellular bacteria increased at 6 h post-infection, and the viability of A. rhysodes was significantly reduced at 24 h post-infection. Amoebic cell death was characterized by TUNEL and Annexin V assay, without DNA ladder identified, indicating an apoptosis-like cell death in Salmonella-infected A. rhysodes. Global gene expression screening between intracellular and extracellular Salmonella by microarray and quantitative PCR showed that genes from Salmonella pathogenicity islands and virulence plasmid were up-regulated within A. rhysodes. The phase-dependent expression pattern suggests their distinct roles in the pathogenesis. A. rhysodes and Salmonella provide a model to study transient symbiosis between bacterial pathogens and protozoa in an aquatic ecosystem.