Techniques to analyze and sort single cells based on functional outputs, such as secreted products, have the potential to transform our understanding of cellular biology, as well as accelerate the development of next generation cell and antibody therapies. However, secreted molecules rapidly diffuse away from cells, and analysis of these products requires specialized equipment and expertise to compartmentalize individual cells and capture their secretions. Herein we demonstrate the use of suspendable microcontainers to sort single viable cells based on their secreted products at high-throughput using only commonly accessible laboratory infrastructure. Our microparticles act as solid supports which facilitate cell attachment, partition uniform aqueous compartments, and capture secreted proteins. Using this platform, we demonstrate highthroughput screening of stably-and transiently-transfected producer cells based on relative IgG production as well as screening of B lymphocytes and hybridomas based on antigen-specific antibody production using commercially available flow sorters. Leveraging the high-speed sorting capabilities of standard sorters, we sorted >1,000,000 events in less than an hour. The reported microparticles can be easily stored, and distributed as a consumable reagent amongst researchers, democratizing access to high-throughput functional cell screening.

The ability to create uniform subnanoliter compartments using microfluidic control has enabled new approaches for analysis of single cells and molecules. However, specialized instruments or expertise has been required, slowing the adoption of these cutting-edge applications. Here, we show that three dimensional–structured microparticles with sculpted surface chemistries template uniformly sized aqueous drops when simply mixed with two immiscible fluid phases. In contrast to traditional emulsions, particle-templated drops of a controlled volume occupy a minimum in the interfacial energy of the system, such that a stable monodisperse state results with simple and reproducible formation conditions. We describe techniques to manufacture microscale drop-carrier particles and show that emulsions created with these particles prevent molecular exchange, concentrating reactions within the drops, laying a foundation for sensitive compartmentalized molecular and cell-based assays with minimal instrumentation.

An efficient and powerful technique has been developed to treat the problem of wave propagation along arbitrarily shaped single-mode dielectric waveguides with inhomogeneous index variations in the cross-sectional plane. This technique is based on a modified finite-element method. Illustrative examples were given for the following guides: (a) the triangular fiber guide; (b) the elliptical fiber guide; (c) the single material fiber guide; (d) the rectangular fiber guide; guide; (g) the optical stripline guide.

Techniques to analyze and sort single cells based on secreted products have the potential to transform our understanding of cellular biology as well as accelerate the development of next generation cell and antibody therapies. However, secretions are rapidly transported away from cells, such that specialized equipment and expertise has been required to compartmentalize cells and capture their secretions. Herein we demonstrate the use of cavity-containing hydrogel microparticles to perform functional single-cell secretion analysis and sorting using only commonly accessible lab infrastructure. These microparticles act as a solid support which facilitates cell attachment, templates formation of uniform aqueous compartments which prevent cross-talk between cells, and captures secreted proteins. Using this platform we demonstrate high-throughput analysis and sorting of Chinese Hamster Ovary cells based on their relative production of human IgG using commercially available flow sorters.Microparticles are easily distributed and used, democratizing access to high-throughput functional cell screening.

Upon varying the thickness of liquid crystal (LC) cells and alternating their surface chemical and physical environments, phase transition behaviors of the rod-disc molecule (RD12, where 12 is the number of carbon atoms in each alkyl chain linkage between the rod and the disc mesogens) were dramatically changed. From the cross-polarized optical microscopic observations and analyses, it was realized that the macroscopically oriented nematic (N) phase of RD12 was obtained by the surface anchoring confinement and the crystallization of RD12 was completely suppressed. On the basis of the systematic experimental investigations, it was concluded that the glassy N phase was formed because the interaction between surface alignment layer and RD12 (a surface anchoring force) is bigger than that of RD12 themselves (a driving force of the crystallization). The finely tuned molecular orientations and anisotropic physical properties of the programmed RD12 building compound can allow us to fabricate smart optical and electrical thin films for practical applications in electro-optical applications.