Muljadi Michael, Fu Yi-Chen, Cheng Chao-Min
International Intercollegiate Ph.D. Program, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan.
Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan.
Micromachines (Basel). 2022 Oct 14;13(10):1737. doi: 10.3390/mi13101737.
Cellular chemotaxis has been the subject of a variety of studies due to its relevance in physiological processes, disease pathogenesis, and systems biology, among others. The migration of cells towards a chemical source remains a closely studied topic, with the Boyden chamber being one of the earlier techniques that has successfully studied cell chemotaxis. Despite its success, diffusion chambers such as these presented a number of problems, such as the quantification of many aspects of cell behaviour, the reproducibility of procedures, and measurement accuracy. The advent of microfluidic technology prompted more advanced studies of cell chemotaxis, usually involving the social amoeba () as a model organism because of its tendency to aggregate towards chemotactic agents and its similarities to higher eukaryotes. Microfluidic technology has made it possible for studies to look at chemotactic properties that would have been difficult to observe using classic diffusion chambers. Its flexibility and its ability to generate consistent concentration gradients remain some of its defining aspects, which will surely lead to an even better understanding of cell migratory behaviour and therefore many of its related biological processes. This paper first dives into a brief introduction of as a social organism and classical chemotaxis studies. It then moves to discuss early microfluidic devices, before diving into more recent and advanced microfluidic devices and their use with . The paper then closes with brief opinions about research progress in the field and where it will possibly lead in the future.
由于细胞趋化性在生理过程、疾病发病机制和系统生物学等方面具有相关性，因此它一直是各种研究的主题。细胞向化学源的迁移仍然是一个受到密切研究的课题，博伊登小室是较早成功研究细胞趋化性的技术之一。尽管取得了成功，但像这样的扩散小室存在许多问题，例如细胞行为许多方面的量化、程序的可重复性以及测量准确性。微流控技术的出现促使了对细胞趋化性更深入的研究，通常以社会变形虫（）作为模式生物，因为它倾向于向趋化剂聚集且与高等真核生物有相似之处。微流控技术使得研究能够观察到使用经典扩散小室难以观察到的趋化特性。它的灵活性以及产生一致浓度梯度的能力仍然是其一些显著特点，这肯定会有助于更好地理解细胞迁移行为以及许多相关的生物学过程。本文首先简要介绍作为一种社会性生物以及经典趋化性研究。接着讨论早期的微流控装置，然后深入探讨更新的先进微流控装置及其与的应用。本文最后对该领域的研究进展以及未来可能的发展方向给出简要观点。
