Liu William, Dechev Nikolai, Foulds Ian G, Burke Robert, Parameswaran Ash, Park Edward J
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Victoria, PO Box 3055 STN CSC, Victoria, BC, CanadaV8W 3P6.
Lab Chip. 2009 Aug 21;9(16):2381-90. doi: 10.1039/b821044f. Epub 2009 May 27.
Devices capable of automatically aligning cells onto geometrical arrays are of great interest to biomedical researchers. Such devices can facilitate the study of numerous cells while the cells remain physically separated from one another. In this way, cell arrays reduce cell-to-cell interactions while the cells are all subjected to common stimuli, which allows individual cell behaviour to be revealed. The use of arrays allows for the parallel analysis of single cells, facilitates data logging, and opens the door to the use of automated machine-based single cell analysis techniques. A novel permalloy based magnetic single cell micro array (MSCMA) is presented in this paper. The MSCMA creates an array of magnetic traps by generating magnetic flux density peaks at predefined locations. When using cells labelled with immunomagnetic labels, the cells will interact with the magnetic fields, and can be captured at the magnetic trap sites. Prototypes of the MSCMA have been successfully fabricated and tested using both fixed and live Jurkat cells (10 microm average diameter) that were labelled. The prototypes performed as predicted during experimental trials. The experimental results show that the MSCMA can randomly array up to 136 single cells per square mm. The results also show that the number of single cells captured is a function of the trap site density of the MSCMA design and the cell density in the fluid sample.
能够自动将细胞排列到几何阵列上的设备引起了生物医学研究人员的极大兴趣。这类设备有助于对大量细胞进行研究，同时细胞之间保持物理分离。通过这种方式，细胞阵列减少了细胞间的相互作用，而所有细胞都受到共同刺激，这使得单个细胞的行为得以展现。使用阵列允许对单个细胞进行并行分析，便于数据记录，并为使用基于机器的自动化单细胞分析技术打开了大门。本文介绍了一种新型的基于坡莫合金的磁性单细胞微阵列（MSCMA）。MSCMA通过在预定义位置产生磁通密度峰值来创建一系列磁阱。当使用用免疫磁标记标记的细胞时，细胞将与磁场相互作用，并可在磁阱位置被捕获。MSCMA的原型已成功制造并使用标记的固定和活Jurkat细胞（平均直径10微米）进行了测试。原型在实验试验中表现如预期。实验结果表明，MSCMA每平方毫米可随机排列多达136个单细胞。结果还表明，捕获的单细胞数量是MSCMA设计的阱位点密度和流体样品中细胞密度的函数。
