Abstract

Microfluidic and 3D Printing Devices for Cell Patterning and Tumor Analysis

Xueji Zhang, Professor & Director, University of Science and Technology Beijing

Traditional methods for living cell analysis have been limited by the incapability of gaining information from dynamic imaging and molecular level information such as gene expression simultaneously. Herein we report an easy but versatile method for patterning different cells on a single substrate by using a microfluidic approach “Ip-Do Assay”, which allows not only controlling of cells niches but also retrieval of specific treated cells to quantitatively analysis their gene expression. Recently, we also developed a 3D printed “LEGO”-like device to implement tumor cell migration and metastasis assay without any micro-fabrication process due to the easy configuration of 3D printing. This technology allows quantitative analysis on not only tumor cell migration at single cell level but also for tumor-somatocyte interactions.