Novel three-dimensional porous film for single-cell microarray applications

Abstract

Cell-based studies yield data averaged over a large number of cells which overlook the rich information that can possibly be obtained from single-cells study. For this reason, it is imperative to develop single-cell microarray to study each cell individually. However, the current techniques for generating single-cell microarray by using electromagnetic forces needs special medium and may have unknown effects, whereas mechanical methods are unable to trap cells with different sizes and are slow. Efficiency is also a concern for current techniques. Here, we demonstrate an anti-clogging 3D porous film integrated with pyramidal microstructures for generating single-cell microarray. An interesting feature of this 3D film is that cells of different sizes can be trapped. High density single-cell microarray with efficiency and cell-viability close to 90% has been achieved in this device.