微流控芯片技术在循环肿瘤细胞分离中的研究进展

循环肿瘤细胞(circulating tumor cells,CTCs)是指从原发肿瘤或转移灶脱落、发生上皮-间质转化进入患者外周血血液循环的恶性肿瘤细胞.CTCs在肿瘤研究和临床诊断上的作用逐渐得到认可,外周血中CTCs存在与否以及数量多少不但可以用于肿瘤的早期诊断,还可以用于评估肿瘤预后、监测肿瘤的转移和复发.微流控芯片作为一个高通量、小型化的细胞实验平台,已被应用于CTCs的分选当中.本文综述了用于CTCs捕获的微流控芯片系统的最新研究进展,着重介绍各类芯片的捕获原理、芯片结构和捕获效率,最后对微流控芯片技术在CTCs分选中的应用前景进行了展望.     

微流控芯片分析技术在生化研究中的应用进展

综述了微流控芯片分析技术在生物和化学领域中进展,主要从药物筛选、PCR、细胞研究和微流控芯片电泳4个方面总结目前的进展。     

微流控芯片用于卵母细胞冷冻保存的实验研究

低温保存对卵母细胞造成渗透损伤、毒性损伤和冰晶损伤,使得细胞冻后质量难以提高.本文首次提出将微流控法添加-去除保护剂分别与三种冷冻载体(OPS、QC及Cryotop)搭配使用,对猪卵母细胞进行冷冻保存,并与传统冷冻法进行比较;然后,首次选用透明陶瓷和玻璃制作集成一体化芯片,对猪卵母细胞进行冷冻保存,以冷冻保存后的细胞存活率和发育率为判断依据,筛选出较好的方案;最后,对冻后卵母细胞的早期凋亡情况、胞内活性氧水平和线粒体膜电位水平进行分析.结果表明,微流控添加-去除保护剂组卵母细胞冻后存活率以及卵裂率都显著高于传统冷冻组,可以有效降低卵母细胞的早期凋亡率和胞内活性氧水平,减小线粒体损伤,提高细胞的冻后质量.透明陶瓷一体化芯片保存卵母细胞得到的存活率和卵裂率与传统OPS冷冻的保存结果无显著差异.微流控芯片技术为卵母细胞的低温保存提供新的思路,有较好的应用前景.     

微流控芯片电泳及其法医学应用

在光学性能良好的Brofloat玻璃电泳芯片上,利用自行搭建的共聚焦激光诱导荧光检测系统,通过对芯片管道表面修饰、筛分介质、分离电场强度、进样方式、电泳温度、进样时间等条件的优化,对含15个STR基因座的法医DNA样品进行电泳分离测试实验.通过对芯片电泳条件优化获得了本电泳系统的最佳条件,成功实现8 min内完成DNA样品片段的分离,表明该微流控芯片电泳系统在法医DNA快速分析方面具有良好的应用前景.     

微流控芯片在水环境污染分析中的应用

近年来,一种新型技术——微流控芯片技术因其分析速度快、消耗低、体积小、操作简单等特点而备受世界各国的广泛重视.该技术以微通道网络为基本特征,以微机电系统(MEMS)工艺为技术依托,将整个实验室的功能集成在微小芯片上,即构成所谓“芯片实验室”.本文从该技术的基本情况出发,介绍了微流控芯片的发展,并从仪器小型化、系统集成化、不同的芯片材料以及多种检测技术等方面,着重讨论了其在水环境污染分析方面的实际应用和发展前景,指出了它当前所面临的一些问题.随着微流控芯片的不断发展,高速多通道检测装置、低成本设备以及集成了多种方法的高通用性微流控检测芯片,都将成为未来研究的热点.     

微流控芯片在昆虫研究中的应用

与昆虫学相关的研究是生命科学最早的研究领域之一,在害虫防治、资源昆虫利用和模式生物（例如黑腹果蝇Drosophila melanogaster）等研究领域有重要意义。微流控芯片（Microfluidic chip）也称作“芯片实验室”（Lab-on-a-chip）,是21世纪一项重要的技术发明,目前被广泛应用于细胞生物学、发育生物学、体外诊断等领域。随着微流控芯片技术发展的不断深入,与昆虫研究相关的微流控芯片不断出现,促进了昆虫细胞、胚胎发育、昆虫行为和害虫防治等研究领域的发展。本文针对应用于昆虫学领域的微流控芯片研究进行综述。     

微流控芯片在细胞分析中的应用

细胞是生物体和生命活动的基本单位,细胞分析对于细胞结构和功能的研究、生命活动规律和本质的探索、疾病的诊断与治疗、药物的筛选与设计等都具有十分重要的意义.自微流控芯片面世以来,以其微型化、集成化、自动化和便携化等优势越来越多地应用在细胞分析领域.现就微流控芯片在细胞操纵、细胞培养和细胞内组分分析三个方面上的应用进行综述.     

微流控芯片技术在食品领域中的应用

微流控芯片技术是一种全新的微量分析技术。介绍了微流控芯片技术的基本原理、特点及分类,并深入讨论了该技术在食品安全、营养、加工和风味等食品领域中的应用,包括有害化学物质、食品添加剂、转基因食品和食源性致病微生物等的检测,营养物质和功能成分的分析鉴定,食品工艺参数的调控以及食品风味成分的检测,展望了微流控芯片技术在食品领域的广阔应用前景。     

微流控芯片在中枢神经系统疾病中的应用与展望

近年来,随着微流体技术和生物微电子机械系统技术的不断发展,人类中枢神经系统(CNS)的微流体平台及相关疾病的体外模型逐渐得到了广泛的研究。微流体平台可以更好地模拟体内环境,同时能够控制结构、微环境和外来刺激。文中总结了微流控芯片在CNS的基本技术和CNS疾病中的应用。此外,文中对微流控芯片在CNS中的研究进行了展望,强调了通过跨学科的共同努力能够实现更高程度的仿生学挑战。     

聚合物微流控芯片消毒灭菌技术研究进展

聚合物微流控芯片成本低、易加工,目前在医药、生物检测和化学合成等领域得到了普遍应用。以热塑性聚合物聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯(polymethylmethacrylate,PMMA)和热固型聚合物聚二甲基硅氧烷(polydimethy lsiloxane,PDMS)为基材的高分子聚合物材料因具有较好的生物相容性和光学透明性,已逐渐成为聚合物微流控芯片加工的主导材料,被广泛应用于生物医药类微流控芯片的制备。鉴于该类芯片应用场景的特殊性,需在使用前进行消毒灭菌处理以避免微生物干扰。目前,针对PMMA和PDMS的消毒灭菌方法包括高压蒸汽灭菌、紫外线灭菌、电子束、60Co γ射线辐射灭菌、超临界二氧化碳灭菌、乙醇消毒、环氧乙烷灭菌、过氧化氢低温等离子体灭菌、绿原酸消毒、清洗剂消毒。本文从基本原理、消毒灭菌方法、应用场景等方面,回顾和总结了相关技术在PMMA和PDMS基体微流控芯片中的实现方法,并在芯片材质、适用范围等方面分析了所适用的消毒灭菌方法,为以聚合物为基材的生物医药类微流控芯片的消毒灭菌提供有益参考。     

Controlled rotation of biological microscopic objects using optical line tweezers

Controlled, continuous rotation of cells or intracellular objects was achieved using optical tweezers with an elliptic beam profile (line tweezers), which was generated by placing a cylindrical lens in the path of the trapping beam. By rotating the cylindrical lens, rotation of the elliptic trapping beam and hence of the object trapped therein was achieved. Compared to previously reported techniques for rotation of microscopic objects, this approach is much simpler, gives better utilization of available laser power and also allows much easier control of the trap beam profile. We have used this approach for rotation of biological objects varying in size from 2 to 40 m. At 25 mW trapping beam power at the object plane E. coli bacteria could be rotated at speeds approaching 10 Hz and an intracellular object (presumably a calcium oxalate crystal) trapped inside Elodea densa plant cell could be rotated with speeds of up to 4 Hz. To our knowledge, this is the first report for rotation of an intracellular object.     

Ultrahigh frequency lensless ultrasonic transducers for acoustic tweezers application

Similar to optical tweezers, a tightly focused ultrasound microbeam is needed to manipulate microparticles in acoustic tweezers. The development of highly sensitive ultrahigh frequency ultrasonic transducers is crucial for trapping particles or cells with a size of a few microns. As an extra lens would cause excessive attenuation at ultrahigh frequencies, two types of 200‐MHz lensless transducer design were developed as an ultrasound microbeam device for acoustic tweezers application. Lithium niobate single crystal press‐focused (PF) transducer and zinc oxide self‐focused transducer were designed, fabricated and characterized. Tightly focused acoustic beams produced by these transducers were shown to be capable of manipulating single microspheres as small as 5 µm two‐dimensionally within a range of hundreds of micrometers in distilled water. The size of the trapped microspheres is the smallest ever reported in the literature of acoustic PF devices. These results suggest that these lensless ultrahigh frequency ultrasonic transducers are capable of manipulating particles at the cellular level and that acoustic tweezers may be a useful tool to manipulate a single cell or molecule for a wide range of biomedical applications. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2013; 110: 881–886. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Micromanipulation of amyloplasts with optical tweezers in Arabidopsis stems

Intracellular sedimentation of highly dense, starch-filled amyloplasts toward the gravity vector is likely a key initial step for gravity sensing in plants. However, recent live-cell imaging technology revealed that most amyloplasts continuously exhibit dynamic, saltatory movements in the endodermal cells of Arabidopsis stems. These complicated movements led to questions about what type of amyloplast movement triggers gravity sensing. Here we show that a confocal microscope equipped with optical tweezers can be a powerful tool to trap and manipulate amyloplasts noninvasively, while simultaneously observing cellular responses such as vacuolar dynamics in living cells. A near-infrared (λ=1064 nm) laser that was focused into the endodermal cells at 1 mW of laser power attracted and captured amyloplasts at the laser focus. The optical force exerted on the amyloplasts was theoretically estimated to be up to 1 pN. Interestingly, endosomes and trans-Golgi network were trapped at 30 mW but not at 1 mW, which is probably due to lower refractive indices of these organelles than that of the amyloplasts. Because amyloplasts are in close proximity to vacuolar membranes in endodermal cells, their physical interaction could be visualized in real time. The vacuolar membranes drastically stretched and deformed in response to the manipulated movements of amyloplasts by optical tweezers. Our new method provides deep insights into the biophysical properties of plant organelles in vivo and opens a new avenue for studying gravity-sensing mechanisms in plants.     

Exploring mechanochemical processes in the cell with optical tweezers

Force and torque, stress and strain or work are examples of mechanical and elastic actions which are intimately linked to chemical reactions in the cell. Optical tweezers are a light-based method which allows the real-time manipulation of single molecules and cells to measure their interactions. We describe the technique, briefly reviewing the operating principles and the potential capabilities to the study of biological processes. Additional emphasis is given to the importance of fluctuations in biology and how single-molecule techniques allow access to them. We illustrate the applications by addressing experimental configurations and recent progresses in molecular and cell biology.     

A toolbox for generating single‐stranded DNA in optical tweezers experiments

Essential genomic transactions such as DNA‐damage repair and DNA replication take place on single‐stranded DNA (ssDNA) or require specific single‐stranded/double‐stranded DNA (ssDNA/dsDNA) junctions (SDSJ). A significant challenge in single‐molecule studies of DNA–protein interactions using optical trapping is the design and generation of appropriate DNA templates. In contrast to dsDNA, only a limited toolbox is available for the generation of ssDNA constructs for optical tweezers experiments. Here, we present several kinds of DNA templates suitable for single‐molecule experiments requiring segments of ssDNA of several kilobases in length. These different biotinylated dsDNA templates can be tethered between optically trapped microspheres and can, by the subsequent use of force‐induced DNA melting, be converted into partial or complete ssDNA molecules. We systematically investigated the time scale and efficiency of force‐induced melting at different ionic strengths for DNA molecules of different sequences and lengths. Furthermore, we quantified the impact of microspheres of different sizes on the lifetime of ssDNA tethers in optical tweezers experiments. Together, these experiments provide deeper insights into the variables that impact the production of ssDNA for single molecules studies and represent a starting point for further optimization of DNA templates that permit the investigation of protein binding and kinetics on ssDNA. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 99:611–620, 2013.     

Binding of TmHU to single dsDNA as observed by optical tweezers

Optical tweezers are employed to study the action of the histone-like protein from Thermotoga maritima (TmHU) on DNA at a single molecule level. Binding and disruption of TmHU to and from DNA are found to take place in discrete steps of 4-5 nm length and a net binding enthalpy of about 16kBT. This is in reasonable agreement with a microscopic model that estimates the extension of the binding sites of the protein and evaluates the energetics mainly for bending of the DNA in the course of interaction.     

Measuring local properties inside a cell‐mimicking structure using rotating optical tweezers

Exploring the rheological properties of intracellular materials is essential for understanding cellular and subcellular processes. Optical traps have been widely used for physical manipulation of micro and nano objects within fluids enabling studies of biological systems. However, experiments remain challenging as it is unclear how the probe particle's mobility is influenced by the nearby membranes and organelles. We use liposomes (unilamellar lipid vesicles) as a simple biomimetic model of living cells, together with a trapped particle rotated by optical tweezers to study mechanical and rheological properties inside a liposome both theoretically and experimentally. Here, we demonstrate that this system has the capacity to predict the hydrodynamic interaction between three‐dimensional spatial membranes and internal probe particles within submicron distances, and it has the potential to aid in the design of high resolution optical micro/nanorheology techniques to be used inside living cells.