Abstract
Single cell analysis has been of a great interest in bioengineering as it can highlight heterogeneity of individual cells in medical screening tests compared to conventional bulk analysis. We have been developing a novel bioassay system designed for single cell analysis. The device mainly consists of a silicon/glass microwell slide and a PDMS microchannel, and enables to supply reagents to microwells in a well-controlled manner using micropumps. In this study, bovine aortic endothelial cells were cultured in the microwells for 48 h and then subjected to fluid shear stress at up to 2 Pa for 6 h. A result showed that realignment and elongation of endothelial cells to the flow direction were dependent on the level of shear stress. It was confirmed that the device could reduce consumption of expensive reagents and precious all samples. Moreover, unlike conventional bulk devices, multiple experimental conditions can be examined at the same time within a single device. It can be concluded that the device has a potential to be applied to multi-purpose single cell tests.
