Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, People's Republic of China.
Biomicrofluidics. 2009 Dec 23;3(4):44114. doi: 10.1063/1.3274313.
The soil dwelling nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is an excellent model organism for the study of numerous disease including neurodegenerative disease. In this study, a programmable microvalve-based microfluidic array for real-time and long-term monitoring of the neurotoxin-induced responses of the individual C. elegans was developed. The device consisted of a flow layer and a control layer, which were used for worm manipulation. By activating the programmable microvalves in the control layer, mutiple worms could be individually captured and intermittently immobilized in parallel channels. Thus the mobility behavior, together with the corresponding dopaminergic neuron features of the worms in response to neurotoxin, could be investigated simultaneously. It was found that the neurotoxin MPP+ enabled to induce mobility defects and dopaminergic neurons loss in worms. The established system is easy and fast to operate, which offers not only the controllable microenvironment for analyzing the individual worms in parallel, monitoring the same worm over time, but also the capability to characterize the mobility behavior and neuron features in response to stimuli simultaneously. In addition, the device enabled to sustain the worm culture over most of their adult lifespan without any harm to worm, providing a potential platform for lifespan and aging research.
土壤栖居线虫秀丽隐杆线虫（C. elegans）是研究多种疾病（包括神经退行性疾病）的优秀模式生物。在这项研究中，开发了一种基于可编程微阀的微流控阵列，用于实时和长期监测单个秀丽隐杆线虫受到神经毒素的反应。该设备由一个流动层和一个控制层组成，用于操纵线虫。通过激活控制层中的可编程微阀，可以单独捕获多个线虫并在并行通道中间歇性地固定它们。因此，可以同时研究线虫对线虫的运动行为以及相应的多巴胺能神经元特征的反应。结果发现，神经毒素 MPP+能够诱导线虫的运动缺陷和多巴胺能神经元丧失。所建立的系统易于操作且快速，不仅为分析平行的单个线虫提供了可控的微环境，还可以实时监测同一线虫，并且能够同时表征对线虫刺激的运动行为和神经元特征。此外，该设备能够在不伤害线虫的情况下维持线虫的大部分成年寿命，为寿命和衰老研究提供了一个潜在的平台。
