A micro-nanofluidic device for cell migration research

Abstract

The invention relates to a micronanofluidic device for researching cell migration. The micronanofluidic device comprises a glass substrate at the bottommost layer, a PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) layer which is arranged at the middle layer and provided with microfluidic channels at the bottom and two glass cylinder fluid reservoir at the uppermost layer. The PDMS-molded microfluidic chamber is divided by two hydrogel-molded nano-porous partition grids into three independent regions, namely fluid channels at the two sides and a cell culture region at the center. The solutions with different concentrations are added at the inlets of the fluid channels at the two sides and a stable concentration gradient can be formed in the cell culture region at the center by diffusion. Two slender and flexible channels and a balance region are also designed in the device to balance the pressures in the fluid channels at the two sides to ensure the repeatability and stability of the concentration gradient of the cell culture region. The structure of the device is simple, the reconfiguration can be easily realized and the control over the concentration gradient and other parameters influencing the cell migration can be realized by adjusting the thickness of the hydrogel partition grids, so as to meet the requirements of different studies.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention belongs to the field of microfluidics, and relates to a micro-nanofluidic device used for cell migration research and a manufacturing method for forming the fluidic device. Background technique [0002] Cell migration is an important topic in current cell biology research. Scientists are trying to achieve greater results in medical applications such as preventing cancer metastasis and allogeneic skin grafting through the study of cell migration. At the same time, because of the unique movement characteristics of cell migration, it has become a hot direction of current biological research. There are many experiments on cell migration. The early research devices can be divided into several structures such as Boyden chamber, Zigmond chamber, Dunn chamber, and micrometer. [0003] However, in these devices, in addition to being exposed to concentration gradients, cells are also exposed to flow-induced shear stresses that directly affect cell...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Thus they can overcome some of the limitations of flow-based gradient-forming devices, but they also have their own limitations: for example, they can only be used for non-adherent cells (e.g., embryos, insect cells) or two-dimensional (2D) adherent cell cultures. Cannot support extracellular matrix

In response to this problem, some research groups have integrated three-dimensional (3D) materials into microfluidic devices as the supporting structure of the cell matrix, but these devices are often: 1) difficult to fabricate due to their complex design; 2) cannot provide controllable chemical concentration gradient; or 3) unable to maintain the concentration gradient for a long time

Images