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Micromachines
Special Issues
Microfluidic for Biological Applications
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Microfluidic for Biological Applications

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "B：Biology and Biomedicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2020) | Viewed by 9759

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Olivier Francais

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Dean of Research at ESIEE Paris, Université Paris-Est, ESYCOM FRE 2028, Noisy-Le-Grand, France
Interests: microfluidic; lab on chip; bioimpedance; dielectric properties of biological components; electrophysiology

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Microfluidics is now found in many research laboratories involved in transdisciplinary research combining optics, physics, biology and chemistry. Recent advances towards organ-on-chip, point of care devices, biomaterial synthesis and biological component (proteins, cells) sorting and/or analysis benefit from the advantages provide by microfluidics (well-defined flow, low product consumption, size miniaturization, reduced time of analysis, single particle analysis, high throughput capabilities, integration of several functions). Concerning fabrication, continuous efforts are being made to provide new functionalized, structured (3D printing methods) or biodegradable materials with high biocompatibility within microfluidic devices.

This Special Issue aims to highlight research papers and review articles on recent microfluidic developments for biological applications from DNA to tissue engineering. Particular attention will be paid to papers focusing on a biological issue where microfluidics offers an original and novel approach.

Prof. Olivier Francais
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Micromachines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Microfluidic
  • Lab on chip
  • Organ on chip
  • Bioprinting
  • Biological sensing
  • Single cell analysis
  • Microfabrication

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 5130 KiB  
Article
Concentration Gradient Constructions Using Inertial Microfluidics for Studying Tumor Cell–Drug Interactions
by Shaofei Shen, Fangjuan Zhang, Mengqi Gao and Yanbing Niu
Micromachines 2020, 11(5), 493; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi11050493 - 12 May 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2595
Abstract
With the continuous development of cancer therapy, conventional animal models have exposed a series of shortcomings such as ethical issues, being time consuming and having an expensive cost. As an alternative method, microfluidic devices have shown advantages in drug screening, which can effectively [...] Read more.
With the continuous development of cancer therapy, conventional animal models have exposed a series of shortcomings such as ethical issues, being time consuming and having an expensive cost. As an alternative method, microfluidic devices have shown advantages in drug screening, which can effectively shorten experimental time, reduce costs, improve efficiency, and achieve a large-scale, high-throughput and accurate analysis. However, most of these microfluidic technologies are established for narrow-range drug-concentration screening based on sensitive but limited flow rates. More simple, easy-to operate and wide-ranging concentration-gradient constructions for studying tumor cell–drug interactions in real-time have remained largely out of reach. Here, we proposed a simple and compact device that can quickly construct efficient and reliable drug-concentration gradients with a wide range of flow rates. The dynamic study of concentration-gradient formation based on successive spiral mixer regulations was investigated systematically and quantitatively. Accurate, stable, and controllable dual drug-concentration gradients were produced to evaluate simultaneously the efficacy of the anticancer drug against two tumor cell lines (human breast adenocarcinoma cells and human cervical carcinoma cells). Results showed that paclitaxel had dose-dependent effects on the two tumor cell lines under the same conditions, respectively. We expect this device to contribute to the development of microfluidic chips as a portable and economical product in terms of the potential of concentration gradient-related biochemical research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microfluidic for Biological Applications)
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15 pages, 2602 KiB  
Article
Hand-Powered Elastomeric Pump for Microfluidic Point-of-Care Diagnostics
by Gangadhar Eluru, Jayesh Vasudeva Adhikari, Priyalaxita Chanda and Sai Siva Gorthi
Micromachines 2020, 11(1), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi11010067 - 7 Jan 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3398
Abstract
The pumping of fluids into microfluidic channels has become almost an unavoidable operation in all microfluidic applications. Such a need has seen an outburst of several techniques for pumping, out of which the majority of techniques involve complicated fabrication, as they require the [...] Read more.
The pumping of fluids into microfluidic channels has become almost an unavoidable operation in all microfluidic applications. Such a need has seen an outburst of several techniques for pumping, out of which the majority of techniques involve complicated fabrication, as they require the introduction of electrodes, valves, piezoelectric materials, acoustic transducers, etc., into the microfluidic device. In addition to the complexity, this also escalates the cost incurred per device. Further, the use of stable external power supplies to produce such a pumping action adds to the bulkiness of the pumps, making them unsuitable for point-of-care diagnostic (POCD) applications. This paper reports a technique of pumping that is simple to realize and does not require external electric/magnetic power, but exploits the elastic properties of materials to achieve the pumping action. This mechanism of pumping ensured the cost per pump to less than 4 USD and can be used for at least 500 times. Several simulations, validation, and characterization experiments were performed on the developed pump to establish its functionality and suitability for use in POCD applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microfluidic for Biological Applications)
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18 pages, 3494 KiB  
Article
A Milled Microdevice to Advance Glia-Mediated Therapies in the Adult Nervous System
by Juan S. Peña, Denise Robles, Stephanie Zhang and Maribel Vazquez
Micromachines 2019, 10(8), 513; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi10080513 - 31 Jul 2019
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3420
Abstract
Neurodegenerative disorders affect millions of adults worldwide. Neuroglia have become recent therapeutic targets due to their reparative abilities in the recycling of exogenous neurotoxins and production of endogenous growth factors for proper functioning of the adult nervous system (NS). Since neuroglia respond effectively [...] Read more.
Neurodegenerative disorders affect millions of adults worldwide. Neuroglia have become recent therapeutic targets due to their reparative abilities in the recycling of exogenous neurotoxins and production of endogenous growth factors for proper functioning of the adult nervous system (NS). Since neuroglia respond effectively to stimuli within in vivo environments on the micron scale, adult glial physiology has remarkable synergy with microscale systems. While clinical studies have begun to explore the reparative action of Müller glia (MG) of the visual system and Schwann Cells (ShC) of the peripheral NS after neural injury, few platforms enable the study of intrinsic neuroglia responses to changes in the local microenvironment. This project developed a low-cost, benchtop-friendly microfluidic system called the glia line system, or gLL, to advance the cellular study needed for emerging glial-based therapies. The gLL was fabricated using elastomeric kits coupled with a metal mold milled via conventional computer numerical controlled (CNC) machines. Experiments used the gLL to measure the viability, adhesion, proliferation, and migration of MG and ShC within scales similar to their respective in vivo microenvironments. Results illustrate differences in neuroglia adhesion patterns and chemotactic behavior significant to advances in regenerative medicine using implants and biomaterials, as well as cell transplantation techniques. Data showed highest survival and proliferation of MG and ShC upon laminin and illustrated a four-fold and two-fold increase of MG migration to dosage-dependent signaling from vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and epidermal growth factor (EGF), respectively, as well as a 20-fold increase of ShC migration toward exogenous brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), compared to media control. The ability to quantify these biological parameters within the gLL offers an effective and reliable alternative to photolithography study neuroglia in a local environment ranging from the tens to hundreds of microns, using a low-cost and easily fabricated system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microfluidic for Biological Applications)
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