Integrated microfluidic cell culture and analysis of retroviral shRNA production

Abstract

In this paper, we demonstrate a microfluidic platform for the enhanced production of active retrovirus with effective monitoring of its functional activity. We use eGFP retrovirus as a model for shRNA monitoring. The microfluidic device consists of a PDMS channel bonded to a polystyrene substrate with an engineered trench for adherent cell growth. Cell viability and inherent activity were successfully maintained in our device. Finally, this design was implemented in an integrated microfluidic platform where Platinum-E packaging cells were cultured in a perfusion system to release retrovi-rus, which was subsequently perfused downstream for infection and analysis in Neuro2A target cells.