Quantitative cell-based reporter gene assays using droplet-based microfluidics

A single droplet dispensing system for high-throughput screening and reliable recovery of rare events

Microfluidic droplet sorting has emerged as a powerful technique for a broad spectrum of biomedical applications ranging from single cell analysis to high-throughput drug screening, biomarker detection and tissue engineering. However, the controlled and reliable retrieval of selected droplets for further off-chip analysis and processing is a significant challenge in droplet sorting, particularly in high-throughput applications with low expected hit rates. In this study, we present a microfluidic platform capable of sorting and dispensing individual droplets with minimal loss rates. We demonstrate our direct transfer mechanism by placing selected droplets containing hybridoma cells into microwells, eliminating the need for manual and often lossy handling steps. Sorted droplets are dispensed via a novel 3D-printed dispensing nozzle, enabling precise and controlled placement of selected single droplets into individual wells without affecting the microfluidic sorting flow. The sorting and transfer process is monitored in real time, which provides feedback and quality control of the entire workflow. Our integrated microfluidic system holds great potential for applications requiring high-throughput droplet sorting with minimal sample loss and precise dispensing into microwells, such as screening for therapeutical antibodies or monoclonal cells.

Design and fabrication of novel microfluidic-based droplets for drug screening on a chronic myeloid leukemia cell line

BACKGROUND

The challenges associated with traditional drug screening, such as high costs and long screening times, have led to an increase in the use of single-cell isolation technologies. Small sample volumes are required for high-throughput, cell-based assays to reduce assay costs and enable rapid sample processing. Using microfluidic chips, single-cell analysis can be conducted more effectively, requiring fewer reagents and maintaining biocompatibility. Due to the chip's ability to manipulate small volumes of fluid, high-throughput screening assays can be developed that are both miniaturized and automated. In the present study, we employ microfluidic chips for drug screening in chronic myeloid leukemia. This study aimed to establish a robust methodology integrating diverse assays, providing a holistic understanding of drug response.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Herein, we have used a chronic myeloid leukemia derived cell line (K562) for drug screening with an innovative microfluidic-based drug screening approach to investigate the efficacy of imatinib in K562 cells. Cell viability was assessed using MTT assay. Apoptosis was measured using Annexin/PI staining by flow cytometry.

RESULTS

Significant increased apoptosis was seen in K562 cells treated with imatinib in the microfluidic device compared to cells treated with imatinib in 24- and 96-well plates. Moreover, in the microfluidic chip, drug screening time was reduced from 48 hours to 24 hours.

CONCLUSION

Compared to traditional approaches, microfluidic-based drug screening efficiently evaluates the efficacy of imatinib in K562 cells. This approach is promising for drug discovery and treatment optimization, as it increases sensitivity and streamlines the screening process.

Droplet-based microfluidics: an efficient high-throughput portable system for cell encapsulation

One of the goals of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine is restoring primary living tissue function by manufacturing a 3D microenvironment. One of the main challenges is protecting implanted non-autologous cells or tissues from the host immune system. Cell encapsulation has emerged as a promising technique for this purpose. It involves entrapping cells in biocompatible and semi-permeable microcarriers made from natural or synthetic polymers that regulate the release of cellular secretions. In recent years, droplet-based microfluidic systems have emerged as powerful tools for cell encapsulation in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. These systems offer precise control over droplet size, composition, and functionality, allowing for creating of microenvironments that closely mimic native tissue. Droplet-based microfluidic systems have extensive applications in biotechnology, medical diagnosis, and drug discovery. This review summarises the recent developments in droplet-based microfluidic systems and cell encapsulation techniques, as well as their applications, advantages, and challenges in biology and medicine. The integration of these technologies has the potential to revolutionise tissue engineering and regenerative medicine by providing a precise and controlled microenvironment for cell growth and differentiation. By overcoming the immune system's challenges and enabling the release of cellular secretions, these technologies hold great promise for the future of regenerative medicine.

High-throughput bacterial co-encapsulation in microfluidic gel beads for discovery of antibiotic-producing strains

Bacteria with antagonistic activity inhibit the growth of other bacteria through different mechanisms, including the production of antibiotics. As a result, these microorganisms are a prolific source of such compounds. However, searching for antibiotic-producing strains requires high-throughput techniques due to the vast diversity of microorganisms. Here, we screened and isolated bacteria with antagonistic activity against Escherichia coli expressing the green fluorescent protein (E. coli-GFP). We used microfluidics to co-encapsulate and co-culture single cells from different strains within picoliter gel beads and analyzed them using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). To test the methodology, we used three bacterial isolates obtained from Mexican maize, which exhibit high, moderate, or no antagonistic activity against E. coli-GFP, as determined previously using agar plate assays. Single cells from each strain were separately co-incubated into gel beads with E. coli-GFP. We monitored the development of the maize bacteria microcolonies and tracked the growth or inhibition of E. coli-GFP using bright-field and fluorescent microscopy. We correlated these images with distinctive light scatter and fluorescence signatures of each incubated bead type using FACS. This analysis enabled us to sort gel beads filled with an antagonistic strain, starting from a mixture of the three different types of maize bacteria and E. coli-GFP. Likewise, culturing the FACS-sorted beads on agar plates confirmed the isolation and recovery of the two antagonistic strains. In addition, enrichment assays demonstrated the methodology's effectiveness in isolating rare antibiotic-producer strains (0.01% abundance) present in a mixture of microorganisms. These results show that associating light side scatter and fluorescent flow cytometry signals with microscopy images provides valuable controls to establish successful high-throughput methods for sorting beads in which microbial interaction assays are performed.

Magnetic Beads inside Droplets for Agitation and Splitting Manipulation by Utilizing a Magnetically Actuated Platform

We successfully developed a platform for the magnetic manipulation of droplets containing magnetic beads and examined the washing behaviors of the droplets, including droplet transportation, magnetic bead agitation inside droplets, and separation from parent droplets. Magnetic field gradients were produced with two layers of 6 × 1 planar coils fabricated by using printed circuit board technology. We performed theoretical analyses to understand the characteristics of the coils and successfully predicted the magnetic field and thermal temperature of a single coil. We then investigated experimentally the agitation and splitting kinetics of the magnetic beads inside droplets and experimentally observed the washing performance in different neck-shaped gaps. The performance of the washing process was evaluated by measuring both the particle loss ratio and the optical density. The findings of this work will be used to design a magnetic-actuated droplet platform, which will separate magnetic beads from their parent droplets and enhance washing performance. We hope that this study will provide digital microfluidics for application in point-of-care testing. The developed microchip will be of great benefit for genetic analysis and infectious disease detection in the future.

Confining Trypanosoma brucei in emulsion droplets reveals population variabilities in division rates and improves in vitro cultivation

Trypanosome parasites are infecting mammals in Sub-Saharan Africa and are transmitted between hosts through bites of the tsetse fly. The transmission from the insect vector to the mammal host causes a number of metabolic and physiological changes. A fraction of the population continuously adapt to the immune system of the host, indicating heterogeneity at the population level. Yet, the cell to cell variability in populations is mostly unknown. We develop here an analytical method for quantitative measurements at the single cell level based on encapsulation and cultivation of single-cell Trypanosoma brucei in emulsion droplets. We first show that mammalian stage trypanosomes survive for several hours to days in droplets, with an influence of droplet size on both survival and growth. We unravel various growth patterns within a population and find that droplet cultivation of trypanosomes results in 10-fold higher cell densities of the highest dividing cell variants compared to standard cultivation techniques. Some variants reach final cell titers in droplets closer to what is observed in nature than standard culture, of practical interest for cell production. Droplet microfluidics is therefore a promising tool for trypanosome cultivation and analysis with further potential for high-throughput single cell trypanosome analysis.

Double emulsion flow cytometry with high-throughput single droplet isolation and nucleic acid recovery

Droplet microfluidics has made large impacts in diverse areas such as enzyme evolution, chemical product screening, polymer engineering, and single-cell analysis. However, while droplet reactions have become increasingly sophisticated, phenotyping droplets by a fluorescent signal and sorting them to isolate individual variants-of-interest at high-throughput remains challenging. Here, we present sdDE-FACS (s[combining low line]ingle d[combining low line]roplet D[combining low line]ouble E[combining low line]mulsion-FACS), a new method that uses a standard flow cytometer to phenotype, select, and isolate individual double emulsion droplets of interest. Using a 130 μm nozzle at high sort frequency (12-14 kHz), we demonstrate detection of droplet fluorescence signals with a dynamic range spanning 5 orders of magnitude and robust post-sort recovery of intact double emulsion (DE) droplets using 2 commercially-available FACS instruments. We report the first demonstration of single double emulsion droplet isolation with post-sort recovery efficiencies >70%, equivalent to the capabilities of single-cell FACS. Finally, we establish complete downstream recovery of nucleic acids from single, sorted double emulsion droplets via qPCR with little to no cross-contamination. sdDE-FACS marries the full power of droplet microfluidics with flow cytometry to enable a variety of new droplet assays, including rare variant isolation and multiparameter single-cell analysis.

Semi-quantification of antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) in the uptake of Adenovirus serotype 5 into THP-1 cells

Replication defective recombinant Ad5 vectors (rAdV5) are extensively explored for its applications in gene therapy and vaccine delivery. Ad5 enter into monocytes and macrophages through CAR independent route as an immune complex termed as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE). We developed an effective method for estimating the ADE of rAdV5 encoding GFP (rAdV5-GFP) into THP-1 cells, using fluorimetric semi-quantification of GFP. Initially, twenty numbers of human sera samples were screened in HeLa cells for anti-Ad5 antibody titer using neutralization assay. Uptake of rAdV5-GFP in THP-1 cells was observed only after pre-incubation with the serially diluted human sera which are attributed to ADE. The optimal dilution which showed the maximum GFP expression as per the fluorescence microscopic analysis in THP-1 cells was used for further analysis. Fluorimetric analysis of the THP-1 cell lysate showed a maximum GFP intensity of 17058 RFU, which was equivalent to the 0.397 pmoles of Alexa Fluor 488 under the same experimental condition. Similarly, immunoblot analysis of GFP in THP-1 cell lysate and HeLa cell lysate confirmed the entry of rAdV5-GFP into the cells. The assay can serve as a platform for understanding the molecular events involved in ADE for the uptake of viruses into immune cells.

Size-Based Sorting of Emulsion Droplets in Microfluidic Channels Patterned with Laser-Ablated Guiding Tracks

We demonstrate an autonomous, high-throughput mechanism for sorting of emulsion droplets with different sizes concurrently flowing in a microfluidic Hele-Shaw channel. The aqueous droplets of varying radii suspended in olive oil are separated into different streamlines across the channel upon interaction with a shallow (depth ∼ 700 nm) inclined guiding track ablated into the polydimethylsiloxane-coated surface of the channel with focused femtosecond laser pulses. Specifically, the observed differences in the droplet trajectories along the guiding track arise due to the different scaling of the confinement force attracting the droplets into the track, fluid drag, and wall friction, with the droplet radius. In addition, the distance traveled by the droplets along the track also depends on the track width, with wider tracks providing more stable droplet guiding for any given droplet size. We systematically study the influence of the droplet size and velocity on the trajectory of the droplets in the channel and analyze the sensitivity of size-based droplet sorting for varying flow conditions. The droplet guiding and sorting experiments are complemented by modeling of the droplet motion in the channel flow using computational fluid dynamics simulations and a previously developed model of droplet guiding. Finally, we demonstrate a complete separation of droplets produced by fusion of two independent droplet streams at the inlet of the Hele-Shaw channel from unfused daughter droplets. The presented droplet sorting technique can find applications in the development of analytical and preparative microfluidic protocols.

Detection and Automation Technologies for the Mass Production of Droplet Biomicrofluidics

Droplet microfluidics utilizes two immiscible flows to generate small droplets with the diameter of a few to a few hundred micrometers. These droplets are promising tools for biomedical engineering because of the high throughput and the ease to finely tune the microenvironments. In addition to the great success of droplet biomicrofluidics in the proof-of-concept biosensing, regenerative medicine, and drug delivery, few droplet biomicrofluidic devices have a transformative impact on the industrial and clinical applications. The main issues are the low volume throughput and the lack of proper methods for quality control and automation. This review covers the methodologies for the mass production, detection, and automation of droplet generators. Recent advances in droplet mass production using parallelized devices and modified junction structures are discussed. Detection techniques, including optical and electrical detection methods, are comprehensively reviewed in detail. Newly emerged droplet closed-loop control systems are surveyed to highlight the progress in system integration and automation. Overall, with the advances in parallel droplet generation, highly sensitive detection, and robust closed-loop regulation, it is anticipated that the productivity and reliability of droplet biomicrofluidics will be significantly improved to meet the industrial and clinical needs.

Cross-talk between emulsion drops: how are hydrophilic reagents transported across oil phases?

Emulsion drops are frequently used as vessels, for example, to conduct biochemical reactions in small volumes or to perform screening assays at high throughputs while consuming minimal sample volumes. These applications typically require drops that do not allow exchange of reagents such that no cross-contamination occurs. Unfortunately, in many cases, reagents are exchanged between emulsion drops even if they have a low solubility in the surrounding phase, resulting in cross-contaminations. Here, we investigate the mechanism by which hydrophilic reagents are transported across an oil phase using water-oil-water double emulsion drops as a model system. Remarkably, even large objects, including 11 000 base pair double-stranded circular DNA are transported across oil shells. Importantly, this reagent transport, that is to a large extent caused by aqueous drops that spontaneously form at the water-oil interface, is not limited to double emulsions but also occurs between single emulsion drops. We demonstrate that the uncontrolled reagent transport can be decreased by at least an order of magnitude if appropriate surfactants that lower the interfacial tension only moderately are employed or if the shell thickness of double emulsions is decreased to a few hundreds of nanometers.

Droplet microfluidics for high-sensitivity and high-throughput detection and screening of disease biomarkers

Biomarkers are nucleic acids, proteins, single cells, or small molecules in human tissues or biological fluids whose reliable detection can be used to confirm or predict disease and disease states. Sensitive detection of biomarkers is therefore critical in a variety of applications including disease diagnostics, therapeutics, and drug screening. Unfortunately for many diseases, low abundance of biomarkers in human samples and low sample volumes render standard benchtop platforms like 96-well plates ineffective for reliable detection and screening. Discretization of bulk samples into a large number of small volumes (fL-nL) via droplet microfluidic technology offers a promising solution for high-sensitivity and high-throughput detection and screening of biomarkers. Several microfluidic strategies exist for high-throughput biomarker digitization into droplets, and these strategies have been utilized by numerous droplet platforms for nucleic acid, protein, and single-cell detection and screening. While the potential of droplet-based platforms has led to burgeoning interest in droplets, seamless integration of sample preparation technologies and automation of platforms from biological sample to answer remain critical components that can render these platforms useful in the clinical setting in the near future. This article is categorized under: Diagnostic Tools > Biosensing Diagnostic Tools > Diagnostic Nanodevices Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Infectious Disease.

Out-of-equilibrium microcompartments for the bottom-up integration of metabolic functions

Self-sustained metabolic pathways in microcompartments are the corner-stone for living systems. From a technological viewpoint, such pathways are a mandatory prerequisite for the reliable design of artificial cells functioning out-of-equilibrium. Here we develop a microfluidic platform for the miniaturization and analysis of metabolic pathways in man-made microcompartments formed of water-in-oil droplets. In a modular approach, we integrate in the microcompartments a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-dependent enzymatic reaction and a NAD-regeneration module as a minimal metabolism. We show that the microcompartments sustain a metabolically active state until the substrate is fully consumed. Reversibly, the external addition of the substrate reboots the metabolic activity of the microcompartments back to an active state. We therefore control the metabolic state of thousands of independent monodisperse microcompartments, a step of relevance for the construction of large populations of metabolically active artificial cells.

Combinatorial drug discovery in nanoliter droplets

Combinatorial drug treatment strategies perturb biological networks synergistically to achieve therapeutic effects and represent major opportunities to develop advanced treatments across a variety of human disease areas. However, the discovery of new combinatorial treatments is challenged by the sheer scale of combinatorial chemical space. Here, we report a high-throughput system for nanoliter-scale phenotypic screening that formulates a chemical library in nanoliter droplet emulsions and automates the construction of chemical combinations en masse using parallel droplet processing. We applied this system to predict synergy between more than 4,000 investigational and approved drugs and a panel of 10 antibiotics against Escherichia coli, a model gram-negative pathogen. We found a range of drugs not previously indicated for infectious disease that synergize with antibiotics. Our validated hits include drugs that synergize with the antibiotics vancomycin, erythromycin, and novobiocin, which are used against gram-positive bacteria but are not effective by themselves to resolve gram-negative infections.

Single-Cell Protein Assays: A Review

Quantification of single-cell proteomics provides key insights in the field of cellular heterogeneity. This chapter discusses the emerging techniques that are being used to measure the protein copy numbers at the single-cell level, which includes flow cytometry, mass cytometry, droplet cytometry, microengraving, and single-cell barcoding microchip. The advantages and limitations of each technique are compared, and future research opportunities are highlighted.

High-throughput multiplexed fluorescence-activated droplet sorting

Fluorescence-activated droplet sorting (FADS) is one of the most important features provided by droplet-based microfluidics. However, to date, it does not allow to compete with the high-throughput multiplexed sorting capabilities offered by flow cytometery. Here, we demonstrate the use of a dielectrophoretic-based FADS, allowing to sort up to five different droplet populations simultaneously. Our system provides means to select droplets of different phenotypes in a single experimental run to separate initially heterogeneous populations. Our experimental results are rationalized with the help of a numerical model of the actuation of droplets in electric fields providing guidelines for the prediction of sorting designs for upscaled or downscaled microsystems.

Deterministic trapping, encapsulation and retrieval of single-cells

We present a novel method for conducting true single-cell encapsulation at very high efficiency for the manipulation of precious samples. Our unique strategy is based on the sequential capture and original encapsulation of single-cells into a series of hydrodynamic traps. We identified two distinct modes of encapsulation and we established their associated design rules. We improved the trapping scheme to reach a near perfect capture efficiency and make it compatible with the encapsulation process. Finally, we developed the complete device operation that permits highly efficient single-cell encapsulation and droplet retrieval. This platform provides the foundation to a fully integrated multiparameter platform that will impact the analysis of tissues at single-cell resolution.

Digital Assays Part II: Digital Protein and Cell Assays

A digital assay is one in which the sample is partitioned into many containers such that each partition contains a discrete number of biological entities (0, 1, 2, 3, . . .). A powerful technique in the biologist’s toolkit, digital assays bring a new level of precision in quantifying nucleic acids, measuring proteins and their enzymatic activity, and probing single-cell genotype and phenotype. Where part I of this review focused on the fundamentals of partitioning and digital PCR, part II turns its attention to digital protein and cell assays. Digital enzyme assays measure the kinetics of single proteins with enzymatic activity. Digital enzyme-linked immunoassays (ELISAs) quantify antigenic proteins with 2 to 3 log lower detection limit than conventional ELISA, making them well suited for low-abundance biomarkers. Digital cell assays probe single-cell genotype and phenotype, including gene expression, intracellular and surface proteins, metabolic activity, cytotoxicity, and transcriptomes (scRNA-seq). These methods exploit partitioning to 1) isolate single cells or proteins, 2) detect their activity via enzymatic amplification, and 3) tag them individually by coencapsulating them with molecular barcodes. When scaled, digital assays reveal stochastic differences between proteins or cells within a population, a key to understanding biological heterogeneity. This review is intended to give a broad perspective to scientists interested in adopting digital assays into their workflows.

High throughput single cell counting in droplet-based microfluidics

Droplet-based microfluidics is extensively and increasingly used for high-throughput single-cell studies. However, the accuracy of the cell counting method directly impacts the robustness of such studies. We describe here a simple and precise method to accurately count a large number of adherent and non-adherent human cells as well as bacteria. Our microfluidic hemocytometer provides statistically relevant data on large populations of cells at a high-throughput, used to characterize cell encapsulation and cell viability during incubation in droplets.

An Interference-Assisted Thermal Bonding Method for the Fabrication of Thermoplastic Microfluidic Devices

Solutions for the bonding and sealing of micro-channels in the manufacturing process of microfluidic devices are limited; therefore, further technical developments are required to determine these solutions. In this study, a new bonding method for thermoplastic microfluidic devices was developed by combining an interference fit with a thermal treatment at low pressure. This involved a process of first injection molding thermoplastic substrates with a microchannel structure, and then performing bonding experiments at different bonding conditions. The results indicated the successful bonding of microchannels over a wide range of bonding pressures with the help of the interference fit. The study also determined additional advantages of the proposed bonding method by comparing the method with the conventional thermal bonding method.

Surfactant adsorption kinetics in microfluidics

Emulsions are metastable dispersions. Their lifetimes are directly related to the dynamics of surfactants. We design a microfluidic method to measure the kinetics of adsorption of surfactants to the droplet interface, a key process involved in foaming, emulsification, and droplet coarsening. The method is based on the pH decay in the droplet as a direct measurement of the adsorption of a carboxylic acid surfactant to the interface. From the kinetic measurement of the bulk equilibration of the pH, we fully determine the adsorption process of the surfactant. The small droplet size and the convection during the droplet flow ensure that the transport of surfactant through the bulk is not limiting the kinetics of adsorption. To validate our measurements, we show that the adsorption process determines the timescale required to stabilize droplets against coalescence, and we show that the interface should be covered at more than [Formula: see text] to prevent coalescence. We therefore quantitatively link the process of adsorption/desorption, the stabilization of emulsions, and the kinetics of solute partitioning-here through ion exchange-unraveling the timescales governing these processes. Our method can be further generalized to other surfactants, including nonionic surfactants, by making use of fluorophore-surfactant interactions.

Development of Droplet Microfluidics Enabling High-Throughput Single-Cell Analysis

This article reviews recent developments in droplet microfluidics enabling high-throughput single-cell analysis. Five key aspects in this field are included in this review: (1) prototype demonstration of single-cell encapsulation in microfluidic droplets; (2) technical improvements of single-cell encapsulation in microfluidic droplets; (3) microfluidic droplets enabling single-cell proteomic analysis; (4) microfluidic droplets enabling single-cell genomic analysis; and (5) integrated microfluidic droplet systems enabling single-cell screening. We examine the advantages and limitations of each technique and discuss future research opportunities by focusing on key performances of throughput, multifunctionality, and absolute quantification.

Single cells in confined volumes: microchambers and microdroplets

Microfluidic devices capable of manipulating and guiding small fluid volumes open new methodical approaches in the fields of biology, pharmacy, and medicine. They have already proven their extraordinary value for cell analysis. The emergence of microfluidic platforms has paved the way to novel analytical strategies for the positioning, treatment and observation of living cells, for the creation of chemically defined liquid environments, and for tailoring biomechanical or physical conditions in small volumes. In this article, we particularly focus on two complementary approaches: (i) the isolation of cells in small chambers defined by microchannels and integrated valves and (ii) the encapsulation of cells in microdroplets. We review the advantages and limitations of both approaches and discuss their potential for single-cell analysis and related fields. Our intention is also to give a recommendation on which platform is most appropriate for a new question, i.e., a guideline to choose the most suitable platform.

Controlling molecular transport in minimal emulsions

Emulsions are metastable dispersions in which molecular transport is a major mechanism driving the system towards its state of minimal energy. Determining the underlying mechanisms of molecular transport between droplets is challenging due to the complexity of a typical emulsion system. Here we introduce the concept of ‘minimal emulsions', which are controlled emulsions produced using microfluidic tools, simplifying an emulsion down to its minimal set of relevant parameters. We use these minimal emulsions to unravel the fundamentals of transport of small organic molecules in water-in-fluorinated-oil emulsions, a system of great interest for biotechnological applications. Our results are of practical relevance to guarantee a sustainable compartmentalization of compounds in droplet microreactors and to design new strategies for the dynamic control of droplet compositions.

Emulsion droplets have many biotechnological applications, such as parallelized single cell analysis. Here, Gruner et al. introduce the concept of the minimal emulsions in a microfluidic device that allows full control of molecular transport between emulsion droplets.

Biocompatible fluorinated polyglycerols for droplet microfluidics as an alternative to PEG-based copolymer surfactants

In droplet-based microfluidics, non-ionic, high-molecular weight surfactants are required to stabilize droplet interfaces. One of the most common structures that imparts stability as well as biocompatibility to water-in-oil droplets is a triblock copolymer surfactant composed of perfluoropolyether (PFPE) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) blocks. However, the fast growing applications of microdroplets in biology would benefit from a larger choice of specialized surfactants. PEG as a hydrophilic moiety, however, is a very limited tool in surfactant modification as one can only vary the molecular weight and chain-end functionalization. In contrast, linear polyglycerol offers further side-chain functionalization to create custom-tailored, biocompatible droplet interfaces. Herein, we describe the synthesis and characterization of polyglycerol-based triblock surfactants with tailored side-chain composition, and exemplify their application in cell encapsulation and in vitro gene expression studies in droplet-based microfluidics.

A large-scale on-chip droplet incubation chamber enables equal microbial culture time

A compact on-chip first-in first-out droplet incubation chamber enables an equal droplet incubation time for a large number of droplets.

Development of a High-Throughput Functional Screen Using Nanowell-Assisted Cell Patterning

Living-cell-based screens can facilitate lead discovery of functional therapeutics of interest. A versatile and scalable method is reported that uses dense arrays of nanowells for imparting defined patterns on monolayers of cells. It is shown that this approach can coordinate a multi-component biological assay by designing and implementing a high-throughput, functional nanoliter-scale neutralization assay to identify neutralizing antibodies against HIV.

Parallelized ultra-high throughput microfluidic emulsifier for multiplex kinetic assays

Droplet-based microfluidic technologies are powerful tools for applications requiring high-throughput, for example, in biochemistry or material sciences. Several systems have been proposed for the high-throughput production of monodisperse emulsions by parallelizing multiple droplet makers. However, these systems have two main limitations: (1) they allow the use of only a single disperse phase; (2) they are based on multiple layer microfabrication techniques. We present here a pipette-and-play solution offering the possibility of manipulating simultaneously 10 different disperse phases on a single layer device. This system allows high-throughput emulsion production using aqueous flow rates of up to 26 ml/h (>110 000 drops/s) leading to emulsions with user-defined complex chemical composition. We demonstrate the multiplex capabilities of our system by measuring the kinetics of β-galactosidase in droplets using nine different concentrations of a fluorogenic substrate.

A microfluidic chip for ICPMS sample introduction

This protocol discusses the fabrication and usage of a disposable low cost microfluidic chip as sample introduction system for inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). The chip produces monodisperse aqueous sample droplets in perfluorohexane (PFH). Size and frequency of the aqueous droplets can be varied in the range of 40 to 60 µm and from 90 to 7,000 Hz, respectively. The droplets are ejected from the chip with a second flow of PFH and remain intact during the ejection. A custom-built desolvation system removes the PFH and transports the droplets into the ICPMS. Here, very stable signals with a narrow intensity distribution can be measured, showing the monodispersity of the droplets. We show that the introduction system can be used to quantitatively determine iron in single bovine red blood cells. In the future, the capabilities of the introduction device can easily be extended by the integration of additional microfluidic modules.

Droplet-based microfluidic washing module for magnetic particle-based assays

In this paper, we propose a continuous flow droplet-based microfluidic platform for magnetic particle-based assays by employing in-droplet washing. The droplet-based washing was implemented by traversing functionalized magnetic particles across a laterally merged droplet from one side (containing sample and reagent) to the other (containing buffer) by an external magnetic field. Consequently, the magnetic particles were extracted to a parallel-synchronized train of washing buffer droplets, and unbound reagents were left in an original train of sample droplets. To realize the droplet-based washing function, the following four procedures were sequentially carried in a droplet-based microfluidic device: parallel synchronization of two trains of droplets by using a ladder-like channel network; lateral electrocoalescence by an electric field; magnetic particle manipulation by a magnetic field; and asymmetrical splitting of merged droplets. For the stable droplet synchronization and electrocoalescence, we optimized droplet generation conditions by varying the flow rate ratio (or droplet size). Image analysis was carried out to determine the fluorescent intensity of reagents before and after the washing step. As a result, the unbound reagents in sample droplets were significantly removed by more than a factor of 25 in the single washing step, while the magnetic particles were successfully extracted into washing buffer droplets. As a proof-of-principle, we demonstrate a magnetic particle-based immunoassay with streptavidin-coated magnetic particles and fluorescently labelled biotin in the proposed continuous flow droplet-based microfluidic platform.

A new microfluidics-based droplet dispenser for ICPMS

In this work, a novel droplet microfluidic sample introduction system for inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) is proposed and characterized. The cheap and disposable microfluidic chip generates droplets of an aqueous sample in a stream of perfluorohexane (PFH), which is also used to eject them as a liquid jet. The aqueous droplets remain intact during the ejection and can be transported into the ICP with >50% efficiency. The transport is realized via a custom-built system, which includes a membrane desolvator necessary for the PFH vapor removal. The introduction system presented here can generate highly monodisperse droplets in the size range of 40–60 μm at frequencies from 90 to 300 Hz. These droplets produced very stable signals with a relative standard deviation (RSD) comparable to the one achieved with a commercial droplet dispenser. Using the current system, samples with a total volume of <1 μL can be analyzed. Moreover, the capabilities of the setup for introduction and quantitative elemental analysis of single cells were described using a test system of bovine red blood cells. In the future, other modules of the modern microfludics can be integrated in the chip, such as on-chip sample pretreatment or parallel introduction of different samples.

The microfluidic puzzle: chip-oriented rapid prototyping

We demonstrate a new concept for reconfigurable microfluidic devices from elementary functional units. Our approach suppresses the need for patterning, soft molding and bonding when details on a chip have to be modified. Our system has two parts, a base-platform used as a scaffold and functional modules which are combined by 'plug-and-play'. To demonstrate that our system sustains typical pressures in microfluidic experiments, we produce droplets of different sizes using T-junction modules with three different designs assembled successively on a 3 × 3 modular scaffold.

High-resolution droplet-based fractionation of nano-LC separations onto microarrays for MALDI-MS analysis

We present a robust droplet-based device, which enables the fractionation of ultralow flow rate nanoflow liquid chromatography (nano-LC) eluate streams at high frequencies and high peak resolution. This is achieved by directly interfacing the separation column to a micro T-junction, where the eluate stream is compartmentalized into picoliter droplets. This immediate compartmentalization prevents peak dispersion during eluate transport and conserves the chromatographic performance. Subsequently, nanoliter eluate fractions are collected at a rate of one fraction per second on a high-density microarray to retain the separation with high temporal resolution. Chromatographic separations of up to 45 min runtime can thus be archived on a single microarray possessing 2700 sample spots. The performance of this device is demonstrated by fractionating the separation of a tryptic digest of a known protein mixture onto the microarray chip and subsequently analyzing the sample archive using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS). Resulting peak widths are found to be significantly reduced compared to standard continuous flow spotting technologies as well as in comparison to a conventional nano-LC-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry interface. Moreover, we demonstrate the advantage of our high-definition nanofractionation device by applying two different MALDI matrices to all collected fractions in an alternating fashion. Since the information that is obtained from a MALDI-MS measurement depends on the choice of MALDI matrix, we can extract complementary information from neighboring spots containing almost identical composition but different matrices.

Microfluidic high-throughput culturing of single cells for selection based on extracellular metabolite production or consumption

Phenotyping single cells based on the products they secrete or consume is a key bottleneck in many biotechnology applications, such as combinatorial metabolic engineering for the overproduction of secreted metabolites. Here we present a flexible high-throughput approach that uses microfluidics to compartmentalize individual cells for growth and analysis in monodisperse nanoliter aqueous droplets surrounded by an immiscible fluorinated oil phase. We use this system to identify xylose-overconsuming Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells from a population containing one such cell per 10(4) cells and to screen a genomic library to identify multiple copies of the xylose isomerase gene as a genomic change contributing to high xylose consumption, a trait important for lignocellulosic feedstock utilization. We also enriched L-lactate-producing Escherichia coli clones 5,800× from a population containing one L-lactate producer per 10(4) D-lactate producers. Our approach has broad applications for single-cell analyses, such as in strain selection for the overproduction of fuels, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

The microfluidic jukebox

Music is a form of art interweaving people of all walks of life. Through subtle changes in frequencies, a succession of musical notes forms a melody which is capable of mesmerizing the minds of people. With the advances in technology, we are now able to generate music electronically without relying solely on physical instruments. Here, we demonstrate a musical interpretation of droplet-based microfluidics as a form of novel electronic musical instruments. Using the interplay of electric field and hydrodynamics in microfluidic devices, well controlled frequency patterns corresponding to musical tracks are generated in real time. This high-speed modulation of droplet frequency (and therefore of droplet sizes) may also provide solutions that reconciles high-throughput droplet production and the control of individual droplet at production which is needed for many biochemical or material synthesis applications.

Microfluidic flow-focusing in ac electric fields

We demonstrate the control of droplet sizes by an ac voltage applied across microelectrodes patterned around a flow-focusing junction. The electrodes do not come in contact with the fluids to avoid electrochemical effects. We found several regimes of droplet production in electric fields, controlled by the connection of the chip, the conductivity of the dispersed phase and the frequency of the applied field. A simple electrical modelling of the chip reveals that the effective voltage at the tip of the liquid to be dispersed controls the production mechanism. At low voltages (≲ 600 V), droplets are produced in dripping regime; the droplet size is a function of the ac electric field. The introduction of an effective capillary number that takes into account the Maxwell stress can explain the dependance of droplet size with the applied voltage. At higher voltages (≳ 600 V), jets are observed. The stability of droplet production is a function of the fluid conductivity and applied field frequency reported in a set of flow diagrams.

A highly parallel microfluidic droplet method enabling single-molecule counting for digital enzyme detection

Although digital detection of nucleic acids has been achieved by amplification of single templates in uniform microfluidic droplets and widely used for genetic analysis, droplet-based digital detection of proteins has rarely been reported, largely due to the lack of an efficient target amplification method for protein in droplets. Here, we report a key step towards digital detection of proteins using a highly parallel microfluidic droplet approach for single enzyme molecule detection in picoliter droplets via enzyme catalyzed signal amplification. An integrated microfluidic chip was designed for high throughput uniform droplet generation, monolayer droplet collection, incubation, detection, and release. Single β-galatosidase (β-Gal) molecules and the fluorogenic substrate fluorescein di-β-D-galactopyranoside were injected from two separated inlets to form uniform 20 μm droplets in fluorinated oil at a frequency of 6.6 kHz. About 200 000 droplets were captured as a monolayer in a capture well on-chip for subsequent imaging detection. A series of β-Gal solutions at different concentrations were analyzed at the single-molecule level. With no enzyme present, no droplets were found to fluoresce, while brightly fluorescent droplets were observed under single-enzyme molecule conditions. Droplet fluorescence intensity distribution analysis showed that the distribution of enzyme molecules under single-molecule conditions matched well with theoretical prediction, further proving the feasibility of detecting single enzyme molecules in emulsion droplets. Moreover, the population of fluorescent droplets increased as the β-Gal concentration increased. Based on a digital counting method, the measured concentrations of the enzyme were found to match well with input enzyme concentration, establishing the accuracy of the digital detection method for the quantification of β-Gal enzyme molecules. The capability of highly parallel detection of single enzyme molecules in uniform picoliter droplets paves the way to microdroplet based digital detection of proteins.

Single-cell forensic short tandem repeat typing within microfluidic droplets

A short tandem repeat (STR) typing method is developed for forensic identification of individual cells. In our strategy, monodisperse 1.5 nL agarose-in-oil droplets are produced with a high frequency using a microfluidic droplet generator. Statistically dilute single cells, along with primer-functionalized microbeads, are randomly compartmentalized in the droplets. Massively parallel single-cell droplet polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is performed to transfer replicas of desired STR targets from the single-cell genomic DNA onto the coencapsulated microbeads. These DNA-conjugated beads are subsequently harvested and reamplified under statistically dilute conditions for conventional capillary electrophoresis (CE) STR fragment size analysis. The 9-plex STR profiles of single cells from both pure and mixed populations of GM09947 and GM09948 human lymphoid cells show that all alleles are correctly called and allelic drop-in/drop-out is not observed. The cell mixture study exhibits a good linear relationship between the observed and input cell ratios in the range of 1:1 to 10:1. Additionally, the STR profile of GM09947 cells could be deduced even in the presence of a high concentration of cell-free contaminating 9948 genomic DNA. Our method will be valuable for the STR analysis of samples containing mixtures of cells/DNA from multiple contributors and for low-concentration samples.

Ultra-high throughput detection of single cell β-galactosidase activity in droplets using micro-optical lens array

We demonstrate the use of a hybrid microfluidic-micro-optical system for the screening of enzymatic activity at the single cell level. Escherichia coli β-galactosidase activity is revealed by a fluorogenic assay in 100 pl droplets. Individual droplets containing cells are screened by measuring their fluorescence signal using a high-speed camera. The measurement is parallelized over 100 channels equipped with microlenses and analyzed by image processing. A reinjection rate of 1 ml of emulsion per minute was reached corresponding to more than 10⁵ droplets per second, an analytical throughput larger than those obtained using flow cytometry.

Intra-species bacterial quorum sensing studied at single cell level in a double droplet trapping system

In this paper, we investigated the intra-species bacterial quorum sensing at the single cell level using a double droplet trapping system. Escherichia coli transformed to express the quorum sensing receptor protein, LasR, were encapsulated in microdroplets that were positioned adjacent to microdroplets containing the autoinducer, N-(3-oxododecanoyl)- l-homoserine lactone (OdDHL). Functional activation of the LasR protein by diffusion of the OdDHL across the droplet interface was measured by monitoring the expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) from a LasR-dependent promoter. A threshold concentration of OdDHL was found to induce production of quorum-sensing associated GFP by E. coli. Additionally, we demonstrated that LasR-dependent activation of GFP expression was also initiated when the adjacent droplets contained single E. coli transformed with the OdDHL synthase gene, LasI, representing a simple quorum sensing circuit between two droplets.

Single-cell analysis and sorting using droplet-based microfluidics

We present a droplet-based microfluidics protocol for high-throughput analysis and sorting of single cells. Compartmentalization of single cells in droplets enables the analysis of proteins released from or secreted by cells, thereby overcoming one of the major limitations of traditional flow cytometry and fluorescence-activated cell sorting. As an example of this approach, we detail a binding assay for detecting antibodies secreted from single mouse hybridoma cells. Secreted antibodies are detected after only 15 min by co-compartmentalizing single mouse hybridoma cells, a fluorescent probe and single beads coated with anti-mouse IgG antibodies in 50-pl droplets. The beads capture the secreted antibodies and, when the captured antibodies bind to the probe, the fluorescence becomes localized on the beads, generating a clearly distinguishable fluorescence signal that enables droplet sorting at ∼200 Hz as well as cell enrichment. The microfluidic system described is easily adapted for screening other intracellular, cell-surface or secreted proteins and for quantifying catalytic or regulatory activities. In order to screen ∼1 million cells, the microfluidic operations require 2-6 h; the entire process, including preparation of microfluidic devices and mammalian cells, requires 5-7 d.

Micro-optical lens array for fluorescence detection in droplet-based microfluidics

We demonstrate the design and integration of droplet-based microfluidic devices with microoptical element arrays for enhanced detection of fluorescent signals. We show that the integration of microlenses and mirror surfaces in these devices results in an 8-fold increase in the fluorescence signal and in improved spatial resolution. Using an array of microlenses, massively parallel detection of droplets containing fluorescent dyes was achieved, leading to detection throughputs of about 2000 droplets per second and per lens, parallelized over 625 measurement points.

Microfluidic Approaches for the Study of Emulsions: Transport of Solutes

Molecular transport as an ageing process in emulsions is revisited using microfluidic droplet production, manipulation and analysis. We show how microfluidic systems provide extremely quantitative insights into the phenomenon. We designed microfluidic systems to address the specificity of molecular transport in fluorinated oils and showed the role of the surfactant solubilised in the oil phase on the time scale of the exchange and rationalize the effect of water soluble additives on the exchange rate. Finally, we also demonstrate that the droplet packing influences the exchange rate through the number of first neighbours.

Microfluidics for manipulating cells

Microfluidics, a toolbox comprising methods for precise manipulation of fluids at small length scales (micrometers to millimeters), has become useful for manipulating cells. Its uses range from dynamic management of cellular interactions to high-throughput screening of cells, and to precise analysis of chemical contents in single cells. Microfluidics demonstrates a completely new perspective and an excellent practical way to manipulate cells for solving various needs in biology and medicine. This review introduces and comments on recent achievements and challenges of using microfluidics to manipulate and analyze cells. It is believed that microfluidics will assume an even greater role in the mechanistic understanding of cell biology and, eventually, in clinical applications.