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Live cells-based cytotoxic sensorchip fabricated in a microfluidic system.

Wada K, Taniguchi A, Kobayashi J, Yamato M, Okano T

Cell-Sensing Group, Biomaterials Center, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1, Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.

We report here a live cells-based sensorchip fabricated in microfluidic channels in which several laminar flows were achieved. In addition, we established a cytotoxic sensor cell line, which was transfected with a green fluorescence protein (GFP) plasmid derived from the heat shock protein 70B' (HSP70B') promoter, which is induced by cytotoxic reagents. The fluorescence in the sensor cells increased in a CdCl(2) dose-dependent manner in the microfluidic channels. In this system, cytotoxic reagents can be quantitatively detected in a quick, sensitive and high-throughput manner. The combination of sensor cells and microfluidic systems will provide an important basis for the development of micro-total analysis systems (micro-TAS) technology, and can be applied to toxicology, environmental assessment and drug screening.

Published 4 March 2008 in Biotechnol Bioeng, 99(6): 1513-7.
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