MICROFLUIDIC DEVICE CONSTRUCTION FOR MULTIPLE BIOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS

Microfluidic devices come in many shapes and sizes and constructed of various materials. In general, microfluidic devices are designed to contain or deliver sub-milliliter volumes of fluid, including chemicals and biological samples. No matter how microfluidic devices are constructed, one common problem has been employing a user friendly method to connect standard fluidic equipment such as pumps and syringes, to the microfluidic device.  Often researchers attempt to use commercially available micro-tube fittings by gluing them to ports on a microfluidic device.  These fittings are small in size and difficult to work with and the glue can clog the port.  To solve this problem, Grace Bio-Labs has created disposable peel-and-stick adhesive chambers and Press Fit Tubing Connectors that adhere to glass, plastic and other smooth surfaces. The adhesive chambers (see list below) are designed with dual loading ports that are compatible with standard micropipette tips or with the mechanical delivery systems using the tubing connectors.  The ports may be sealed with seal tabs included with the chambers. The Press Fit Connectors, ordered separately from the chambers,  are designed to hold standard #24 (6.5 mm OD) tubing, and seal smoothly without leaking up to moderate pressure generated by a hand-held syringe or a mechanical pump.

These devices are rapid to set up and have been used in multiple applications, including single cell analysis (Hoppe et al.), bacterial transport with time-lapsed microscopy ((Ursell et al.), chromosome analysis (Rosa et al.), perfusion chambers (Matsubayashi et al.).

Microfluidic device chambers from Grace Bio-Lab Chambers most frequently are:

• FlexWell™ Incubation Chambers
• CoverWell™ Perfusion Chambers
• SecureSeal™ Hybridization Chambers
• HybriWell™ Sealing System

For more information on the Press to Fit Tubing Connectors see the instructions for use.

References:

• Hoppe, TJ, et al. Generating Arbitrary Chemical Patterns for Multi-Point Dosing of Single Cells. 2013, Analytical Chemistry, 85(7): 3748
• Ursell, TS et al. Rod-like bacterial shape is maintained by feedback between cell curvature and cytoskeletal localization. 2014, Proc. National Acad. Sci. 111(11) : 1025
• Rosa, T et al., Physical clustering of FLC alleles during Polycomb-mediated epigenetic silencing in vernalization. 2013, Gene & Development 27:1845.
• Matsubayashi, M et al. Elongation Factor-1a Is a Novel Protein Associated with Host Cell Invasion and a Potential Protective Antigen of Cryptosporidium parvum. 2013, J. Biol. Chem. 288:34111.