Faster, more efficient living cell separation achieved with new
microfluidic chip

Date:
February 25, 2022
Source:
Hiroshima University
Summary:
A research team created a new way to sort living cells suspended in
fluid using an all-in-one operation in a lab-on-chip that required
only 30 minutes for the entire separation process. This device
eliminated the need for labor-intensive sample pre-treatment and
chemical tagging techniques while preserving the original structure
of the cells. They constructed a prototype of a microfluidic chip
that uses electric fields to gently coax cells in one direction or
another in dielectrophoresis, a phenomenon or movement of neutral
particles when they are subjected to an external non-uniform
electric field.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A Japanese research team created a new way to sort living cells suspended
in fluid using an all-in-one operation in a lab-on-chip that required
only 30 minutes for the entire separation process. This device eliminated
the need for labor-intensive sample pretreatment and chemical tagging techniques while preserving the original structure of the cells. They constructed a prototype of a microfluidic chip that uses electric fields
to gently coax cells in one direction or another in dielectrophoresis,
a phenomenon or movement of neutral particles when they are subjected
to an external non-uniform electric field.


==========================================================================
The Hiroshima University Office of Academic Research and
Industry-Academia- Government and Community Collaboration, led by
Professor Fumito Maruyama, published their findings on January 14 in
iScience.

Dielectrophoresis induces the motion of suspended particles, such as
cells, by applying a non-uniform electric field. Since the strength of dielectrophoretic force depends on the size of the cell and its dielectric properties, this technique can be used to selectively separate cells
based on these differences.

In this paper, Maruyama and his team introduced the separation of two
types of eukaryotic cells with the developed microfluidic chip that
used dielectrophoresis.

Dielectrophoresis could be particularly useful in separating living
cells for medical research applications and the medical industry. Its
most significant advantage over other methods is its simplicity.

"In conventional cell separation methods such as commercially available
cell sorters, cells are generally labeled with markers such as fluorescent substances or antibodies, and cells cannot be maintained in their original physical state," Maruyama said. "Therefore, separating differently sized
cells using microfluidic channels and dielectrophoresis has been studied
as a potentially great method for separating cells without labeling."
Maruyama noted, "Dielectrophoresis cannot entirely replace existing
separation methods such as centrifuge and polyester mesh filters. However,
it opens the door to faster cell separation that may be useful in
certain research and industrial areas, such as the preparation of cells
for therapeutics, platelets, and cancer-fighting T-cells come to mind."
Other common medical industry uses of cell separation include removing
unwanted bacteria cells from donated blood and separating stem cells and
their derivatives, which are crucial for developing stem cell therapies.

"If enrichment of a certain cell type from a solution of two or more
cell types is needed, our dielectrophoresis-based system is an excellent
option as it can simply enable a continuous pass-through of a large
number of cells. The enriched cells are then easily collected from an
outlet port," Maruyama added.

The process outlined by Maruyama and his colleagues was all-in-one.

"The device eliminated sample pretreatment and established cell separation
by all-in-one operation in a lab-on-chip, requiring only a small volume
(0.5-1 mL) to enumerate the target cells and completing the entire
separation process within 30 minutes. Such a rapid cell separation
technique is in high demand by many researchers to promptly characterize
the target cells," he said.

"Future research may examine refinements, allowing us to use
dielectrophoresis to target certain cell types with greater specificity." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Hiroshima_University. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Kyoichi Oshiro, Yoshikazu Wakizaka, Masayo Takano, Takayuki Itoi,
Hiroki
Ohge, Kazumi Koba, Kyoko Yarimizu, So Fujiyoshi, Fumito Maruyama.

Fabrication of a new all-in-one microfluidic dielectrophoresis
integrated chip and living cell separation. iScience, 2022; 25
(2): 103776 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.103776 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220225085909.htm

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