Microfluidic devices for cell cultivation and proliferation

Abstract

Microfluidic technology provides precise, controlled-environment, cost-effective, compact, integrated, and high-throughput microsystems that are promising substitutes for conventional biological laboratory methods. In recent years, microfluidic cell culture devices have been used for applications such as tissue engineering, diagnostics, drug screening, immunology, cancer studies, stem cell proliferation and differentiation, and neurite guidance. Microfluidic technology allows dynamic cell culture in microperfusion systems to deliver continuous nutrient supplies for long term cell culture. It offers many opportunities to mimic the cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions of tissues by creating gradient concentrations of biochemical signals such as growth factors, chemokines, and hormones. Other applications of cell cultivation in microfluidic systems include high resolution cell patterning on a modified substrate with adhesive patterns and the reconstruction of complicated tissue architectures. In this review, recent advances in microfluidic platforms for cell culturing and proliferation, for both simple monolayer (2D) cell seeding processes and 3D configurations as accurate models of in vivo conditions, are examined.

818 Long-term ex vivo maintenance of testis tissues producing fertile sperm in a microfluidic device

“…We initially hypothesized that tissues in a microfluidic device can benefit from the efficient exchange of molecules by flowing culture medium through the tissue surface [9][10][11] . However, our finding obtained by long-term culture with the AG method where spermatogenesis was maintained in the submarginal inner but not at the most peripheral regions of the tissue, was rather paradoxical and informative.…”

“…Unfortunately, however, the method was not fully evaluated in terms of tissue functions at that time, and it has been rarely examined until the present. Recently, on the other hand, microfluidics (MF) has been applied into cell culture experiments [8][9][10][11] . A microfabricated chip, made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) 12 and having a set of micro-channels etched or molded into it, can serve as a culture vessel for cells and can easily accommodate medium flow or circulation 13 .…”

A Short Review of the Architecture and Computational Analysis in the Design of Graphene Based Bioelectronic Devices

“…Once OOCs are constructed, a fluid flow is applied to generate mechanical forces that recapitulate the in vivo microenvironment experienced by cells. (46)(47)(48) Specifically, organspecific fluid flow enables gradient formations of molecular components and maintenance of cell-cell interactions, (49,50) which are vital to emulating human physiological responses. A pressure sensor is an important component in a microfluidic system in order to control and monitor fluid flow precisely.…”

Fibers for hearts: A critical review on electrospinning for cardiac tissue engineering

“…Each technique presents different advantages, but the final selection of the appropriate method should be made in accordance with the polymer and the scaffold fabrication techniques. Advances in the area of microfabrication and microfluidics lead to the development of different types of bioreactors such as rotating and perfusion-based [49] [50] [51].…”