A Portable Chemotaxis Platform for Short and Long Term Analysis

Flow-based microfluidic systems have been widely utilized for cell migration studies given their ability to generate versatile and precisely defined chemical gradients and to permit direct visualization of migrating cells. Nonetheless, the general need for bulky peripherals such as mechanical pumps and tubing and the complicated setup procedures significantly limit the widespread use of these microfluidic systems for cell migration studies. Here we present a simple method to power microfluidic devices for chemotaxis assays using the commercially available ALZET® osmotic pumps. Specifically, we developed a standalone chemotaxis platform that has the same footprint as a multiwell plate and can generate well-defined, stable chemical gradients continuously for up to 7 days. Using this platform, we validated the short-term (24 hours) and long-term (72 hours) concentration dependent PDGF-BB chemotaxis response of human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells.
Harvard Stem Cell Institute
National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant HL095722)
National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant HL097172)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT-UROP program)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (John Reed Fund)
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (U.S.) (BioMEMS Resource Center (P41 EB 002503))