Background What We Can Offer? Workflow Why Choose Us? Published Data FAQs Featured Services Feature Products
Accelerate Your Research and Development!
Are you currently facing challenges with traditional cytotoxicity assays, such as high reagent costs, low throughput, and unreliable results? Our Microfluidic Chip Development Service helps you obtain highly accurate and reproducible cytotoxicity data, streamline preclinical testing, and accelerate drug discovery. We achieve this through advanced microfabrication techniques and the precise control of the cellular microenvironment.
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Background
Microfluidics is a multidisciplinary field that involves the precise manipulation of fluids at a micro-scale. This technology enables the fabrication of "lab-on-a-chip" devices that integrate multiple laboratory functions onto a single chip, from sample preparation to analysis. In the context of cytotoxicity analysis, microfluidic chips provide a superior platform for studying the effects of drugs or other agents on cells. The micro-scale environment allows for unprecedented control over cellular conditions, including the creation of stable concentration gradients, mimicking the physiological microenvironment more closely than traditional well plates. This is particularly relevant in drug discovery and toxicology, where accurate and predictive in vitro models are critical. Scientific studies highlight the use of microfluidic systems for analyzing cell mechanics, immune cell function, and for recreating 3D tissue models, all of which are essential components for robust cytotoxicity and drug screening assays. The ability to control fluid flow and cellular interactions on a single chip addresses many of the limitations of conventional bulk assays, such as a lack of real-time data and the inability to study single-cell behavior.
Fig.1 Microfluidic cytotoxicity detection.1,3
Applications
The Microfluidic chips for cytotoxicity analysis have broad applications across various scientific and industrial fields.
High-Throughput Drug Screening
Quickly and efficiently screen large libraries of drug candidates to identify those with the desired cytotoxic or therapeutic effect.
Personalized Medicine
Test different drugs on patient-derived cells to predict individual treatment responses and optimize therapeutic strategies.
Toxicology and Environmental Health
Assess the toxicity of new chemicals, nanoparticles, or environmental pollutants on cell lines.
Immunotherapy Efficacy Testing
Study the cytotoxic effects of immune cells on cancer cells or other target cells in a controlled, dynamic environment.
Cancer Research
Investigate drug resistance mechanisms at the single-cell level and develop new targeted therapies.
What We Can Offer
Creative Biolabs offers a comprehensive suite of services to meet all your microfluidic needs.
Custom design and fabrication of microfluidic chips using various materials (e.g., PDMS, glass, thermoplastics).
A range of pre-designed, ready-to-use microfluidic chips for common applications, providing a rapid and cost-effective solution.
A complete service from initial design and simulation to chip fabrication, experimental setup, data acquisition, and final reporting.
Assay Development & Optimization
Custom development of cytotoxicity assays on a microfluidic platform, tailored to your specific cell lines and compounds.
We can help you integrate our microfluidic chips and systems into your existing lab infrastructure.
Leverage our specialized benefits—Request a quotation today
Workflow
Why Choose Us?
Creative Biolabs is a leader in microfluidic solutions, offering a unique combination of technical expertise, customizable platforms, and a deep understanding of biological applications. Our innovative approach provides unparalleled advantages over traditional methods.
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Physiological Relevance: Our platforms can recreate complex in vivo-like microenvironments, including concentration gradients and shear stress, providing more predictive and clinically relevant data.
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High-Throughput and Automation: Our microfluidic systems enable the screening of thousands of conditions simultaneously, drastically reducing turnaround time and allowing for high-throughput cytotoxicity analysis with minimal sample and reagent consumption.
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Single-Cell Resolution: Unlike bulk assays that average results, our technology allows for the dynamic, single-cell analysis of cellular responses, revealing critical insights into cell-to-cell heterogeneity that are otherwise masked.
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Cost-Effectiveness: The miniaturization of our chips significantly reduces the volume of expensive compounds and reagents required, leading to a substantial decrease in overall project costs.
Published Data
Fig.2 Construction of a cytotoxicity assay utilizing droplet-based microfluidics.2,3
A recent study published in the scientific literature demonstrates the efficacy of a droplet-based microfluidic platform for real-time cytotoxicity analysis. The research focused on probing the heterogeneity of individual Natural Killer (NK) cells and their cytotoxic activity against cancer cell lines like K562. The experimental setup involved co-encapsulating single effector (NK) cells and target (cancer) cells within monodisperse water-in-oil droplets. The droplets were immobilized on a microfluidic chip, allowing for continuous, real-time microscopic monitoring of over 60,000 individual cellular interactions for up to 10 hours. An automated image analysis script was utilized to track and quantify cytotoxic events with high throughput. The results revealed significant heterogeneity in the cytotoxic behavior of NK cells, with approximately 20% of the population exhibiting killing activity, primarily within the first four hours of interaction. Furthermore, the study demonstrated a direct relationship between the physical confinement of the droplet and the cytotoxic efficiency, showing that a reduction in droplet volume significantly increased the rate of consecutive killing events by individual NK cells. This work highlights the power of microfluidic systems to provide dynamic, single-cell resolution data that is not attainable with traditional bulk assays.
FAQs
Q: What are the key advantages of microfluidic platforms over traditional well-plate assays for cytotoxicity analysis?
A: Microfluidic platforms offer superior control over the cellular microenvironment by utilizing laminar flow to create stable chemical and drug gradients, which more accurately mimic in vivo conditions. This enables the study of cellular responses under physiological shear stress and allows for real-time observation of morphological changes and viability with high resolution.
Q: What cell culture models are compatible with microfluidic systems for cytotoxicity studies?
A: Microfluidic systems are highly versatile and can accommodate a variety of cell culture models. This includes traditional adherent cell lines and suspension cells, as well as more complex 3D cell culture models such as spheroids, organoids, and cells grown on micro-scaffolds. The ability to control the microenvironment makes these systems ideal for studying complex cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions.
Q: What types of data can be acquired from a microfluidic cytotoxicity assay?
A: Microfluidic platforms can generate a wide range of data points, including live/dead ratios, cell proliferation rates, apoptosis indicators, and real-time morphological changes. Integration with on-chip sensors allows for the measurement of specific biomarkers, and the precise fluidic control facilitates the generation of highly accurate dose-response curves.
Q: What are some of the technical considerations for fabricating microfluidic chips for cytotoxicity analysis?
A: The choice of material is critical, with common options including PDMS (for its biocompatibility and ease of prototyping), glass (for optical clarity), and various thermoplastics. Fabrication typically involves soft lithography for polymer-based chips or photolithography for glass and silicon-based devices. Careful design is required to manage factors like bubble formation and surface chemistry to ensure uniform cell seeding and consistent fluid flow.
Q: What are some of the technical challenges associated with microfluidic cytotoxicity assays?
A: Implementing microfluidic assays can present certain technical challenges. These include the complexity of fluidic control and the need for specialized pumps and valves, the potential for unwanted bubble formation within microchannels, and the difficulty of uniformly seeding cells in certain chip geometries. Additionally, highly specialized and sensitive detection equipment is often required to analyze the small volumes and obtain high-quality data.
Featured Services
Feature Products
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CAT No
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Material
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Product Name
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Application
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MFCH-001
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Glass
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Herringbone Microfluidic Chip
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Processing samples and reagents in nucleic acid analysis, blood analysis, immunoassays and point-of-care diagnostics.
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MFMM-0723-JS12
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Glass
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Double Emulsion Droplet Chip
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Our double emulsion microfluidic chip, incorporating localized modifications and a classic flow-focusing structure, is specifically designed to generate stable and uniform double emulsion droplets.
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MFCH-005
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PDMS
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3D Cell Culture Chip-Neuron
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Neuron cell culture and study of axon transport, axon protein synthesis, axon damage/regeneration, signal transduction of axon to somatic signal.
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MFCH-009
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PDMS
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Synvivo-Idealized Co-Culture Network Chips (IMN2 radial)
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SynBBB 3D Blood Brain Barrier Model/SynRAM 3D Inflammation Model/SynTumor 3D Cancer Model/SynTox 3D Toxicology Model
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MFMM1-GJS4
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COC
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BE-Doubleflow Standard
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Studying circulating particles, cell interactions and simple organ on chip system construction.
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MFMM1-GJS6
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COC
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BE-Transflow Custom
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Used to construct cell interface or Air-Liquid interface (ALI) to study more complex culture systems.
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Click here to explore our complete product catalog.
For detailed inquiries regarding our offerings, reach out to our specialists.
References
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Park, Dohyun et al. "High-Throughput Microfluidic 3D Cytotoxicity Assay for Cancer Immunotherapy (CACI-IMPACT Platform)." Frontiers in immunology vol. 10 1133. 28 May. 2019, https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2019.01133
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Antona, Silvia et al. "Droplet-Based Cytotoxicity Assay: Implementation of Time-Efficient Screening of Antitumor Activity of Natural Killer Cells." ACS omega vol. 5,38 24674-24683. 17 Sep. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.0c03264
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Distributed under Open Access license CC BY 4.0, without modification.
