Uniform yeast cell assembly via microfluidics

作者：Chang Ya Wen^*; He Peng; Marquez Samantha M; Cheng Zhengdong

来源：Biomicrofluidics, 2012, 6(2): 024118.

DOI：10.1063/1.4714221

• bioMEMS
• cellular biophysics
• microfluidics
• microorganisms
• self-assembly
• surface charging

This paper reports the use of microfluidic approaches for the fabrication of yeastosomes (yeast-celloidosomes) based on self-assembly of yeast cells onto liquid-solid or liquid-gas interfaces. Precise control over fluidic flows in droplet- and bubble-forming microfluidic devices allows production of monodispersed, size-selected templates. The general strategy to organize and assemble living cells is to tune electrostatic attractions between the template (gel or gas core) and the cells via surface charging. Layer-by-Layer (LbL) polyelectrolyte deposition was employed to invert or enhance charges of solid surfaces. We demonstrated the ability to produce high-quality, monolayer-shelled yeastosome structures under proper conditions when sufficient electrostatic driving forces are present. The combination of microfluidic fabrication with cell self-assembly enables a versatile platform for designing synthetic hierarchy bio-structures.

• 出版日期2012-6