Lagoy Ross C, Albrecht Dirk R
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609-2280, USA.
Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609-2280, USA.
Methods Mol Biol. 2015;1327:159-79. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-2842-2_12.
Microfluidic devices offer several advantages for C. elegans research, particularly for presenting precise physical and chemical environments, immobilizing animals during imaging, quantifying behavior, and automating screens. However, challenges to their widespread adoption in the field include increased complexity over conventional methods, operational problems (such as clogging, leaks, and bubbles), difficulty in obtaining or fabricating devices, and the need to characterize biological results obtained from new assay formats. Here we describe the preparation and operation of simple, reusable microfluidic devices for quantifying behavioral responses to chemical patterns, and single-use devices to arrange animals for time-lapse microscopy and to measure neuronal activity. We focus on details that eliminate or reduce the frustrations commonly experienced by new users of microfluidic devices.
微流控设备为秀丽隐杆线虫研究提供了诸多优势，特别是在呈现精确的物理和化学环境、成像时固定动物、量化行为以及自动化筛选方面。然而，该领域广泛采用这些设备面临的挑战包括比传统方法更复杂、操作问题（如堵塞、泄漏和气泡）、获取或制造设备困难，以及需要对从新检测形式获得的生物学结果进行表征。在此，我们描述了用于量化对化学模式行为反应的简单、可重复使用的微流控设备，以及用于安排动物进行延时显微镜观察和测量神经元活动的一次性设备的制备和操作。我们专注于消除或减少微流控设备新用户常见挫折的细节。
