Rolled-up transparent microtubes as two-dimensionally confined culture scaffolds of individual yeast cells

Abstract

Transparent oxide rolled-up microtube arrays were constructed on Si substrates by the deposition of a pre-stressed oxide layer on a patterned photoresist sacrificial layer and the subsequent removal of this sacrificial layer. These microtubes as well as their arrays can be well positioned onto a chip for further applications, while their dimensions (e.g. length, diameter and wall thickness) are controlled by tunable parameters of the fabrication process. Due to the unique tubular structure and optical transparency, such rolled-up microtubes can serve as well-defined two-dimensionally (2D) confined cell culture scaffolds. In our experiments, yeast cells exhibit different growth behaviors (i.e. their arrangement) in microtubes with varied diameters. In an extremely small microtube the yeast cell becomes highly elongated during growth but still survives. Detailed investigations on the behavior of individual yeast cells in a single microtube are carried out in situ to elucidate the mechanical interaction between microtubes and the 2D confined cells. The confinement of tubular channels causes the rotation of cell pairs, which is more pronounced in smaller microtubes, leading to different cellular assemblies. Our work demonstrates good capability of rolled-up microtubes for manipulating individual and definite cells, which promises high potential in lab-on-a-chip applications, for example as a bio-analytic system for individual cells if integrated with sensor functionalities.

A Strategy for Depositing Different Types of Cells in Three Dimensions to Mimic Tubular Structures in Tissues

“…[21,22] Because of the unique tubular structure, these technologies show remarkable advantages that could be used for biological applications, such as the capture/isolation of cancer cells, [23] as a platform for cell culturing, [24] and so forth. [25,26] Existing methods, however, are not directly useful for culturing cells in the context of tissue mimicry because they are comparatively small in size, [27] or they require harsh conditions to form tubes, for example, heating at 58 °C [28] or using hydrochloric acid to etch the metal. [29] Here, an elastic polymer is used as the scaffold and simply stretched to produce stress, so the rolling process could take place at mild conditions [30] (in the cell-culture medium at room temperature, without heating or etching), which makes shape deformation of the scaffold in the presence of attached mammalian cells possible.…”

Synthesis of Anatase TiO2 Tubular Structures Microcrystallites with a High Percentage of {001} Facets by a Simple One‐Step Hydrothermal Template Process

“…[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] So far, various tubular structures have been produced by using vapor phase deposition, lamella structure scroll, template-assisted, metal-catalyst-assisted, and thermal solution methods. [7,[13][14][15][16][17][18] High-aspect-ratio TiO 2 nanotubular layers possess significantly stronger photocatalytic properties than nanoparticulate layers do. [19] Thus, TiO 2 tubular materials are particularly interesting for their potential applications in photocatalysis and photovoltaic cells.…”

Morphological Differentiation of Neurons on Microtopographic Substrates Fabricated by Rolled‐Up Nanotechnology

“…Despite their free-living nature, baker's yeast cells could be successfully grown inside the confinement of the tubes where they kept dividing in a spatially controlled manner dependent on the mechanical interaction with the microtube. [14] Yeast is a well established model organism for studying evolutionarily conserved processes such as the cell cycle and chromosome biology. However, as a single cell organism, in many ways, it does not resemble the situation in higher eukaryotes, such as humans, where most cells are adherent and grow in the context of 3D defined tissues.…”