Cell multiplication and movement analysis of swimming Euglena confined in a flow-isolated microaquarium

Abstract

We developed a new microchip for cell culture, in which the space for cell culture was isolated from two bypass microfluidic channels for culture medium supply. The chemicals of culture medium permeate from the bypass channels into the flow-isolated micro-aquarium through porous poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) walls. The multiplication of swimming microorganism (Euglena gracilis) from one single cell has been achieved with long-term cell culture more than one month. Unlike other conventional cell-culture microchips, where cells are located in the flow of culture medium, our device is advantageous to culture non-adherent cells including circulating tumor cells, with analyzing cell division, cell movement, or cell differentiation, under fresh culture medium supply.