J0220203 The Flow Control for Single-cell Stimulation by Integrated Microfluidic Probe

Abstract

In this study, we have developed a microfluidic device to control chemical stimulation to a cell population at a single cell scale for cell-based assay. The device consists of a cell culture chamber and microfluidic probe (MFP) channels which are possible to control pinpoint chemical stimulation in the microspace. The device has been evaluated by a computer simulation using Finite Element Method (FEM) and a flow control experiment. A control of chemical stimulation between a single cell scale and a cell population scale in the chamber can be possible by regulating flow ratio and channel size of the microfluidic probe. By using the method, we succeeded staining of single cell in a microspace. We conclude that the device can be a powerful tool for biological applications such as the differentiation control of pluripotent stem cells and other cells signaling studies.