Managing evaporation for more robust microscale assays. Part 2. Characterization of convection and diffusion for cell biology.

Full Abstract

Cell based microassays allow the screening of a multitude of culture conditions in parallel, which can be used for various applications from drug screening to fundamental cell biology research. Tubeless microfluidic devices based on passive pumping are a step towards accessible high throughput microassays, however they are vulnerable to evaporation. In addition to volume loss, evaporation can lead to the generation of small flows. Here, we focus on issues of convection and diffusion for cell culture in microchannels and particularly the transport of soluble factors secreted by cells. We find that even for humidity levels as high as 95%, convection in a passive pumping channel can significantly alter distributions of these factors and that appropriate system design can prevent convection.

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Author information

Author/s: Berthier, Erwin (E); Warrick, Jay (J); Yu, Hongmeiy (H); Beebe, David J (DJ);

Affiliation: MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Dpt of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, NZ. erwin.berthier(-atsign-)gmail.com

Grants: 5T15LM007359 (Agency:United States NLM) ; K25 CA104162 (Agency:United States NCI) ; R21 CA122672 (Agency:United States NCI)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Review

Journal: Lab on a chip (Lab Chip), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jun; vol 8 (issue 6) : pp 860-4

Dates: Created 2008/05/23; Completed 2008/08/13;

PMID: 18497902, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Biological Assay - instrumentation; methods
Biology
Cell Culture Techniques - methods
Cells - cytology; metabolism; secretion
Diffusion

Humidity
Microfluidic Analytical Techniques - instrumentation; methods
Miniaturization - methods
Time Factors
Volatilization

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