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A palmtop‐sized microfluidic cell culture system driven by a miniaturized infusion pump
Author(s) -
Sasaki Naoki,
Shinjo Mika,
Hirakawa Satoshi,
Nishinaka Masahiro,
Tanaka Yo,
Mawatari Kazuma,
Kitamori Takehiko,
Sato Kae
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
electrophoresis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.666
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1522-2683
pISSN - 0173-0835
DOI - 10.1002/elps.201100691
Subject(s) - microfluidics , syringe driver , umbilical vein , microchannel , cell culture , footprint , immortalised cell line , microbiology and biotechnology , cell , chemistry , biomedical engineering , materials science , nanotechnology , syringe , engineering , biology , in vitro , mechanical engineering , biochemistry , paleontology , genetics
A palmtop‐sized microfluidic cell culture system is presented. The system consists of a microfluidic device and a miniaturized infusion pump that possesses a reservoir of culture medium, an electrical control circuit, and an internal battery. The footprint of the system was downsized to 87 × 57 mm, which is, to the best of our knowledge, the smallest integrated cell culture system. Immortalized human microvascular endothelial cells ( HMEC ‐1) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells ( HUVEC ) were cultured in the system. HMEC ‐1 in the system proliferated at the same speed as cells in a microchannel perfused by a syringe pump and cells in a culture flask. HUVEC in the system oriented along the direction of the fluid flow. Claudin‐5, a tight junction protein, was localized along the peripheries of the HUVEC . We expect that the present system is applicable to various cell types as a stand‐alone and easy‐to‐use system for microfluidic bioanalysis.