A flexible microdevice for mechanical cell stimulation and compression in microfluidic settings
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Journal Article
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Date
2021
Authors
Nock, Volker
Onal, Sevgi
Alkaisi, Maan
Abstract
Description
Evidence continues to emerge that cancer is not only a disease of genetic mutations, but also of
altered mechanobiological profiles of the cells and microenvironment. This mutation-independent
element might be a key factor in promoting development and spread of cancer. Biomechanical
forces regulate tumor microenvironment by solid stress, matrix mechanics, interstitial pressure
and flow. Compressive stress by tumor growth and stromal tissue alters the cell deformation, and
recapitulates the biophysical properties of cells to grow, differentiate, spread or invade. Such a
solid stress can be introduced externally to change the cell response and to mechanically induce
cell lysis by dynamic compression. In this work we report a microfluidic cell-culture platform
with an integrated, actively-modulated actuator for the application of compressive forces on
cancer cells. Our platform is composed of a control microchannel in a top layer for introducing
external force and a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane with monolithically integrated
actuators. The integrated actuator, herein called micro-piston, was used to apply compression
on SKOV-3 ovarian cancer cells in a dynamic and controlled manner by modulating applied gas
pressure, localization, shape and size of the micro-piston. We report fabrication of the platform,
characterization of the mechanical actuator experimentally and computationally, as well as cell
loading and culture in the device. We further show use of the actuator to perform both, repeated
dynamic cell compression at physiological pressure levels, and end-point mechanical cell lysis,
demonstrating suitability for mechanical stimulation to study the role of compressive forces in
cancer microenvironments. Finally, we extend cell compression applications in our device to
investigating mechanobiologically-related protein and nuclei profile in cyclically compressed cells.
Citation
Onal S, Alkaisi M, Nock V (2021). A flexible microdevice for mechanical cell stimulation and compression in microfluidic settings. Frontiers in Physics.
Keywords
Microfluidics, Mechanical actuation, Polydimethylsiloxane micropiston, Cell compression, Cancer biomechanics, SKOV-3
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Fields of Research::32 - Biomedical and clinical sciences::3211 - Oncology and carcinogenesis::321101 - Cancer cell biology
Fields of Research::40 - Engineering::4003 - Biomedical engineering::400303 - Biomechanical engineering
Fields of Research::40 - Engineering::4003 - Biomedical engineering::400308 - Medical devices
Fields of Research::31 - Biological sciences::3101 - Biochemistry and cell biology::310105 - Cellular interactions (incl. adhesion, matrix, cell wall)
Fields of Research::40 - Engineering::4003 - Biomedical engineering::400303 - Biomechanical engineering
Fields of Research::40 - Engineering::4003 - Biomedical engineering::400308 - Medical devices
Fields of Research::31 - Biological sciences::3101 - Biochemistry and cell biology::310105 - Cellular interactions (incl. adhesion, matrix, cell wall)
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