Abstract
Understanding the dynamics of signal transduction processes that are induced by cell–cell or cell–surface interactions requires the physical stimulation of the cells of interest on a single-cell level and without any ill-defined contacting of their cell membrane. However, standard cell culture techniques are inapplicable for this task as they do not provide cell and particle handling at sufficiently high spatial and temporal resolution and are limited to ensemble measurements. Here, we present a novel process line for the individual stimulation of single cells with bioactive surfaces, like other cells or particles, and the simultaneous analysis of the induced cytosolic calcium signals. The method is based on a microfluidic lab-on-a-chip environment that allows for contactless cell and particle handling by dielectrophoretic forces.
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Acknowledgments
We acknowledge the financial support from the European Commission in the framework of the Integrated Project CellPROM (NMP4-CT-2004-500039), from the German Research Foundation DFG (FU 345/12-1), and from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through the NanoBiocomp project (0312025B).
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Kirschbaum, M., Jaeger, M.S., Duschl, C. (2015). Measurement of Surface-Mediated Ca2+ Transients on the Single-Cell Level in a Microfluidic Lab-on-a-Chip Environment. In: Prazeres, D.M.F., Martins, S.A.M. (eds) G Protein-Coupled Receptor Screening Assays. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1272. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2336-6_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2336-6_17
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Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY
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