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10 Dec 2015
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26 Nov 2015
Differentiation of stem cells into beating cardiac tissues on paper!
20 Nov 2015
an article by Claire Weston, PhD student at Imperial College London
The Biomicrofluidics System Group at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics in China have published an exciting paper in Lab on a Chip where they have used paper as a material to grow and differentiate human pluripotent stem cells.
Recently, there has been much research into generating biocompatible materials for creating microenvironments for the growth of stem cells, with the aim of improving their regenerative potential. Using paper as the material has several advantages over the conventional polymers – it is cheap and readily available, it is biocompatible, and the bundles of cellulose microfibers that make up paper provide a porous 3D structure.
Identification of cardiomyocytes derived from pluripotent stem cells on paper
The authors used three different types of paper to identify which were best for stem cell growth – printing paper, filter paper, and nitrocellulose membrane. The paper was pre-coated with the required gels and the stem cells were seeded onto the surface. Initially, the stem cells were differentiated into cardiomyocytes prior to being added to the paper to test if the differentiated cells were able to grow on the different types of paper. The cells aggregated on both printing and filter paper and demonstrated spontaneous beating function, but not on the nitrocellulose membrane. These tissues also maintained their beating function for up to three months. The stem cells were then added to the paper prior to differentiation and the required cardiac differentiation procedures were carried out. The cells differentiated to the cardiomyocytes on all three paper types, however the cardiac-specific marker was only expressed weakly on the nitrocellulose membrane. Within two weeks a strong beating function was observed for the printing paper, but not the other paper types. The authors suggest the printing paper had a better pore size to support the cells than the filter paper, while the nitrocellulose membrane didn’t have a favourable microstructure to support growth of cardiac tissue.
Along with this article, there are some impressive videos showing the cardiac tissue beating that are well worth a watch!
To download the full article for free* click the link below:
Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived beating cardiac tissues on paper
Li Wang, Cong Xu, Yujuan Zhu, Yue Yu, Ning Sun, Xiaoqing Zhang, Ke Feng and Jianhua Qin
Lab Chip, 2015, 15 , 4283-4290
DOI: 10.1039/C5LC00919G
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About the webwriter
Claire Weston is a PhD student in the Fuchter Group, at Imperial College London. Her work is focused on developing novel photoswitches and photoswitchable inhibitors.
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*Access is free through a registered RSC account until 18/12/2015 – click here to register
New YouTube Videos
12 Nov 2015
Lab on a Chip awards prestigious prizes at MicroTAS 2015
10 Nov 2015
The µTAS 2015 Conference was held in October at the Hwabaek International Convention Center in Gyeongju, Korea.
Sarah Ruthven, Executive Editor of Lab on a Chip, was in attendance at the conference to announce the prestigious Lab on a Chip awards which include the Pioneers of Miniaturisation Lectureship (in partnership with Corning Inc), the Widmer Young Researcher Poster Prize, the Art in Science award (sponsored by NIST) and the µTAS video competition (in partnership with Dolomite Microfluidics).
“Pioneers of Miniaturization” Lectureship
Professor Dino Di Carlo was announced as the winner of the 10th “Pioneers of Miniaturization” Lectureship, sponsored by Lab on a Chip and Corning Incorporated and supported by the Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society (CBMS). The “Pioneers of Miniaturization” Lectureship rewards early to mid-career scientists who have made extraordinary or outstanding contributions to the understanding or development of miniaturised systems. Professor Di Carlo received a certificate, a monetary award and delivered a short lecture titled ‘Microfluidic Frontiers’ at the conference. More information can be found on the competition blog.
Left to right: Sarah Ruthven (Lab on a Chip) and Professor Di Carlo (winner).
Art in Science Award
Lab on a Chip and the National Institute of Standards Technology (NIST) presented the Art in Science award to Matteo Cornaglia from the Laboratory of Microsystems, EPFL in Switzerland. The award aims to highlight the aesthetic value in scientific illustrations while still conveying scientific merit. More information on the winning photograph can be found on the competition blog.
Left to right: Darwin Reyes (NIST), Matteo Cornaglia (winner) and Sarah Ruthven (Lab on a Chip).
µTAS Video Competition
Lab on a Chip and Dolomite Microfluidics announced Dan Kirby and the Ducrée Lab, Dublin City University the winner of the 2015 µTAS Video Competition supported by the Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society (CBMS).
µTAS participants were invited to submit short videos with a scientific or educational focus. The winners, the Ducrée Lab, recreated an 80’s music video titled “Spin me right round” to promote new areas of research in lab-on-a-disc platforms. The full video can be viewed on the competition blog.
Left to right: Mark Gilligan (Dolomite), Dan Kirby (winner) and Sarah Ruthven (Lab on a Chip).
Widmer Young Researcher Poster Prize
The Widmer Poster Prize was awarded to Jinho Kim from Inje University, Korea, with a poster titled “Single-cell isolation of circulating tumor cells by microfluidic technology”.
Left to right: Jinho Kim (winner) and Sarah Ruthven (Lab on a Chip).
Congratulations to all the winners at the conference! We look forward to seeing you at µTAS 2016 in Dublin, Ireland.
Art in Science Competition Winner Announced at MicroTAS 2015
10 Nov 2015
Lab on a Chip and the National Institute of Standards Technology (NIST) were pleased to present the Art in Science award titled “Under the Looking Glass: Art from the World of Small Science” at the µTAS 2015 Conference.
The award highlights the aesthetic value in scientific illustrations while still conveying scientific merit. Many fantastic submissions were received this year with the winner selected by a panel of senior scientists who attended the conference.
And the winner is…
“Through Warhol’s eyepiece” photographed by Matteo Cornaglia, Laboratory of Microsystems, EPFL, Switzerland.
The winning artwork, “Through Warhol’s eyepiece” photographed by Matteo Cornaglia from the Laboratory of Microsystems, EPFL in Switzerland, was created by on-chip multi-dimensional imaging of C.elegans embryogenesis as observed through an Andy Warhol microscope, equipped with a 63x oil immersion objective and a pop art optical filter. For the first time, automated longitudinal studies of C.elegans embryos are made possible by microfluidics. For this artwork, 20 embryos are isolated from an on-chip worm culture upon egg laying and transferred into dedicated micro-incubators for long-term time-lapse imaging of the whole population at single-organism resolution. Each colour corresponds to a different instant of the same population development.
And the runners up are…
“Reflections of micro-ocean escaping” photographed by Maoxiang Guo, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden.
A tiny drop of liquid is encapsulated in a polymer microwell, covered with thin gold film. As the device is heated, the liquid is expanding, creating a bulge in the gold film, stress and ripples in the rest of the gold sheet.
“Microparticle Microgalaxy” photographed by Ghulam Destgeer, Department of Mechanical Engineering (KAIST), South Korea.
Microparticles are manipulated inside a sessile droplet of water placed on top of a vibrating acoustofluidic platform. Surface acoustic waves leaking into the water drive the concentration of the larger diameter (yellow) particles while smaller (blue) particles remain scattered in the background. The particles resembles stars spread in a celestial galaxy.
A big thank you to all the contributors this year.
“Spin me right round” wins the 2015 MicroTAS Video Competition
10 Nov 2015
Lab on a Chip and Dolomite Microfluidics are pleased to announce Dan Kirby and the Ducrée Lab, Dublin City University the winner of the 2015 µTAS Video Competition supported by the Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society (CBMS).
At the µTAS conference in October 2015 Lab on a Chip Executive Editor, Sarah Ruthven (right) and Dolomite Microfluidics Group Chief Executive Officer, Mark Gilligan (left) presented Dan Kirby (centre) with the award and a $2500 gift certificate to spend on Dolomite equipment.
Registered µTAS participants were invited to submit short videos with a scientific or educational focus. Videos could be fun, artistic or just surprising and unusual to be in contention for the prize. The winners, the Ducrée Lab, produced a video titled “Spin me right round” focussing on centrifugal microfluidics. They recreated a classic 80’s music video in the lab to highlight the new areas of research in lab-on-a-disc platforms. They hope that viewers enjoy the “new spin” they have put on biomedical diagnostics!
Thank you very much to all the participants for submitting such high quality entries.
Congratulations to the Ducrée Lab!
Microscopic pumps made from trapped bacteria
02 Nov 2015
A Lab on a Chip article highlighted in Chemistry World by Cesar Palmero
Scientists in China have trapped bacteria in 3D-printed structures and used them to pump materials along customised paths.
Transporting materials in the microscopic world is complex. Conventionally, macroscopic pumps drive motion, but pumps are bulky and not ideal for miniaturisation. Now, Hepeng Zhang and colleagues at Shanghai Jiao Tong University have tackled this problem using native inhabitants of the microscopic world – motile bacteria. Not only are they already present in the media, but their energy conversion efficiency is estimated to be greater than existing man-made micro-motors.
Please visit Chemistry World to read the full article.
Using confined bacteria as building blocks to generate fluid flow
Zhiyong Gao, He Li, Xiao Chen and H. P. Zhang
Lab Chip, 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C5LC01093D
*Access is free through a registered RSC account until 10 December 2015 – click here to register
A new ‘on-chip’ immunoassay device
22 Oct 2015
an article by Claire Weston, PhD student at Imperial College London
Professor Yarmash‘s lab at Rutgers University have developed a proof of concept microfluidic device, capable of running multiple immunoassays in parallel. The device allows 32 samples to be assayed simultaneously and multiple analytes can be tested in each sample.
As shown in the diagram below, each sample inlet has a bead trap that contains antibody-conjugated microbeads. These are commercially available, allowing virtually any analyte to be tested. The sample flows over the beads at an optimised rate, allowing the analytes to bind to their specific antibodies. A secondary antibody is added that binds to antibodies complexed to analytes, followed by a fluorescent tag that binds to the secondary antibody. The microbeads are then collected, placed in a 96 well plate, and analysed.
Device layout and assay principle
The authors assayed several proteins from an in vitro supernatant and their results corroborated well with a standard benchtop immunoassay. Compared to the benchtop standard, the device has significantly reduced sample consumption as well as large reductions in microbead and detection antibody consumption. It has comparable sensitivity to the benchtop standard and has a large working range, meaning that analytes present at different concentrations in the sample can be measured simultaneously. In addition to this, it is compatible with commercial reagents and analyte concentration can be quantified. Although previously published devices have addressed some of these characteristics, this the first example where they are combined into one device.
Moving on from their proof-of-concept study, the Yarmash group hopes to develop a device capable of in vivo measurements. One example they give is analysis of cerebrospinal fluid in rats, an important animal model in Alzheimer’s research, where immunoassays are currently limited by the small volumes available.
To download the full article for free* click the link below:
Development and validation of a microfluidic immunoassay capable of multiplexing parallel samples in microliter volumes
Mehdi Ghodbane, Elizabeth C. Stucky, Tim J. Maguire, Rene S. Schloss, David I. Shreiber, Jeffrey D. Zahn and Martin L. Yarmush
Lab Chip, 2015,15, 3211-3221
DOI: 10.1039/C5LC00398A
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About the webwriter
Claire Weston is a PhD student in the Fuchter Group, at Imperial College London. Her work is focused on developing novel photoswitches and photoswitchable inhibitors.
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*Access is free until 19/11/2015 through a registered RSC account – click here to register