Development of microfluidic devices for on-site water quality testing using glass molding process.

The demand for multi-point water quality monitoring is increasing to solve the global problem of safe drinking water supply and environmental water contamination by industries. Therefore, compact devices are needed for on-site water quality analysis. On-site devices require low cost and high durability because they are placed outdoors, exposing them to strong ultraviolet rays and a wide range of temperatures. Our previous study reported on a compact and low-cost water quality meter that uses microfluidic devices with resin to monitor chemicals. In this study, we extended the fabrication range of the glass molding method to fabricate a glass microfluidic device with a 300 µm deep channel on a 50 mm in diameter substrate for constructing a low-cost and high-durability device. Finally, we developed a low-cost, highly robust glass device with a diamond-like carbon-coated channel surface to measure residual chlorine. The experimental results indicated that this device can endure outdoor conditions and be attached to small internet of things devices for analyzing chemical substances, such as residual chlorine.

Characterisation of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived endothelial cells under shear stress using an easy-to-use microfluidic cell culture system.

Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived endothelial cells (iPSC-ECs) can contribute to elucidating the pathogenesis of heart and vascular diseases and developing their treatments. Their precise characteristics in fluid flow however remain unclear. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to characterise these features. We cultured three types of ECs in a microfluidic culture system: commercially available human iPS-ECs, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human umbilical artery endothelial cells (HUAECs). We then examined the mRNA expression levels of endothelial marker gene cluster of differentiation 31 (CD31), fit-related receptor tyrosine kinase (Flk-1), and the smooth muscle marker gene smooth muscle alpha-actin, and investigated changes in plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) secretion and intracellular F-actin arrangement following heat stress. We also compared expressions of the arterial and venous marker genes ephrinB2 and EphB4, and the endothelial gap junction genes connexin (Cx) 37, 40, and 43 under fluidic shear stress to determine their arterial or venous characteristics. We found that iPS-ECs had similar endothelial marker gene expressions and exhibited similar increases in PAI-1 secretion under heat stress as HUVECs and HUAECs. In addition, F-actin arrangement in iPSC-ECs also responded to heat stress, as previously reported. However, they had different expression patterns of arterial and venous marker genes and Cx genes under different fluidic shear stress levels, showing that iPSC-ECs exhibit different characteristics from arterial and venous ECs. This microfluidic culture system equipped with variable shear stress control will provide an easy-to-use assay tool to examine characteristics of iPS-ECs generated by different protocols in various laboratories and contribute to basic and applied biomedical researches on iPS-ECs.

An Easy-to-Use Polystyrene Microchip-based Cell Culture System.

In this study, we developed an integrated, low-cost microfluidic cell culture system that is easy to use. This system consists of a disposable polystyrene microchip, a polytetrafluoroethylene valve, an air bubble trap, and an indium tin oxide temperature controller. Valve pressure resistance was validated with a manometer to be 3 MPa. The trap protected against bubble contamination. The temperature controller enabled the culture of Macaca mulatta RF/6A 135 vascular endothelial cells, which are difficult to culture in glass microchips, without a CO2 incubator. We determined the optimal coating conditions for these cells and were able to achieve stable, confluent culture within 1 week. This practical system is suitable for low-cost screening and has potential applications as circulatory cell culture systems and research platforms in cell biology.

A microfluidic cell culture system for monitoring of sequential changes in endothelial cells after heat stress.

Endothelial damage induced by a highly elevated body temperature is crucial in some diseases including viral hemorrhagic fevers. Here, we report the heat-induced sequential changes of endothelial cells under shear stress, which were determined with a microfluidic culture system. Although live cell imaging showed only minor changes in the appearance of heat-treated cells, Hsp70 mRNA expression analysis demonstrated that the endothelial cells in channels of the system responded well to heat treatment. F-actin staining also revealed clear changes in the bundles of actin filaments after heat treatment. Well-organized bundles of actin filaments in control cells disappeared in heat-treated cells cultured in the channel. Furthermore, the system enabled detection of sequential changes in plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) secretion from endothelial cells. PAI-1 concentration in the effluent solution was significantly elevated for the first 15min after initiation of heat treatment, and then decreased subsequently. This study provides fundamental information on heat-induced endothelial changes under shear stress and introduces a potent tool for analyzing endothelial secretions.

Suppressive effects of cadmium on neurons and affected proteins in cultured developing cortical cells.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the in vitro effects of low-dose cadmium (Cd) on developing cortical cells. The cortical cells removed from fetuses (embryonic day 15) were treated with 10nM of Cd for 24h. The effects of Cd on dendritic and synaptic development were immunocytochemically observed with anti-microtubule associated protein-2 (MAP2) and anti-synapsin I antibodies, respectively. Administration of Cd suppressed dendritic as well as synaptic development at 10nM. By two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC/MS/MS) analysis, we identified three proteins with different expression after Cd-treatment; dihydropyrimidinase-related protein 2 (DRP-2/CRMP-2), 14-3-3-epsillon and calmodulin (CaM). Though the number of identified proteins was small, these proteins are known to be involved in neuronal development. The present study demonstrated the morphological effects as well as affected proteins in Cd-treated cortical cells, providing tools and insights in elucidating mechanisms how low-dose Cd distorts brain development.

Development of a micropulverized extraction method for rapid toxicological analysis of methamphetamine in hair.

We developed a rapid sample preparation method for the toxicological analysis of methamphetamine and amphetamine (the major metabolite of methamphetamine) in human hair by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), to facilitate fast screening and quantitation. Two milligrams of hair were mechanically micropulverized for 5 min in a 2-ml plastic tube together with 100 microl of an aqueous solvent containing 10% acetonitrile, 100 mM trifluoroacetic acid and the corresponding deuterium analogues as internal standards. The pulverizing highly disintegrated the hair components, simultaneously allowing the extraction of any drugs present in the hair. After filtering the suspension with a membrane-filter unit, the clear filtrate was directly analyzed by HPLC-MS/MS. No evaporation processes were required for sample preparation. Method optimization and validation study were carried out using real-case specimens and fortified samples in which the drugs had been artificially absorbed, respectively. Concentration ranges for quantitation were 0.040-125 and 0.040-25 ng/mg for methamphetamine and amphetamine, respectively. Real-case specimens were analyzed by the method presented here and by conventional ones to verify the applicability of our method to real-world analysis. Our method took less than 30 min for a set of chromatograms to be obtained from a washed hair sample.