Lab on a Chip Blog

Measuring migration of individual cells

02 Aug 2012

Yanyi Huang and colleagues at Peking University have developed a microfluidic-based assay to allow them to quantitatively measure single cell migration speeds. Existing methods for determining cell migration are abundant, as the process is important for processes such as cancer metastasis, embryonic development and wound healing, but it is very difficult to distinguish between migrating and proliferating cells in current assays.

Using their migration assay, Huang and colleagues were able to show that HUVEC migration is epigenetically regulated:

Live cell imaging analysis of the epigenetic regulation of the human endothelial cell migration at single-cell resolution
Chunhong Zheng, Zhilong Yu, Ying Zhou, Louis Tao, Yuhong Pang, Tao Chen, Xiannian Zhang, Haiwei Qiu, Hongwei Zhou, Zitian Chen and Yanyi Huang
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40192D

As with all our HOT articles, this one is free to access for 4 weeks following a simple registration.

Also check out the video showing their device in operation:

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Introducing our new Associate Editor – Dr Jianhua Qin

01 Aug 2012

By RSC Internet Services.

We at Lab on a Chip are very pleased to announce our newest Associate Editor – Dr Jianhua Qin. Dr Qin is a Professor at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and is the director of the Microfluidics Research Center at DICP. She joined the team at Lab on a Chip in July.

Dr Jianhua Qin received her M.D. in Medical Science from the China Medical University and her Ph.D in Chemistry from CAS, respectively. She was a Postdoc fellow at the University of Toronto. Dr Qin’s research interests are focused on the combination of microfluidics and nanotechnologies to understand natural and dysfunctional biomed-systems that lead to the design of novel diagnostic schemes and therapeutic strategies. Dr Qin is a professor at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and is the director of the Microfluidics Research Center at DICP.

Below, Dr Qin shares her views on the growth of microfluidics in China:

Microfluidics has emerged as a distinct new field to greatly influence the multidisciplinary research involved in chemistry, engineering, biology, and physics, as well as medicine. During the last two decades, it has been advancing at a rapid pace, and has found a variety of innovative applications worldwide. In China, only in the past decade, an increased number of scientists from different areas have been getting into this active field, leading to the rapid growth of microfluidics (or lab-on-a-chip) in China. During this period, more than 1900 scientific papers have been published in the international journals indexed in Web of Science, where the term “microfluidic” is used as a searching key word. Since 2002, a series of national and international conferences regarding the topics of micro/nanofluidics (or lab-on-a-chip) have been successfully held in China. These research activities cover subject areas including micro-scale fluidic control/principles, microfabrication technologies/methods, chemical synthesis/analysis, and biological/medical systems et al. It is of note that efforts in recent years have moved from simple technological demonstrations to the exploration of practical applications.

The rapidly proliferating status of this research field in China is mainly attributed to the increasing recognization of microfluidic technologies dedicated to healthcare, and the large amount of funding support from the Chinese government and other resources, including the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and industries, etc. This input has greatly facilitated the improvement of research facilities, activities and the cultivation of related academic researchers over many universities and research institutes. Certainly, with the rapid progress in fundamental investigations and the technological development of microfluidics in China, more challenges will be faced and addressed in the near future, such as effective strategies to apply existing microfluidics/LOC methodologies to realistic applications and achieve commercialization.

We are delighted to welcome Dr Qin to the Lab on a Chip Editorial Board as Associate Editor and feel that her expertise will help us to further meet the needs of our authors and readers.

If your research falls under Dr Qin’s area of expertise, why not submit your next article to her?

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New YouTube videos

24 Jul 2012

By Nathalie Horner.

View the new videos on the Lab on a Chip YouTube site using the links below:

Gelatin methacrylate as a promising hydrogel for 3D microscale organization and proliferation of dielectrophoretically patterned cells

Towards a high-throughput label-free detection system combining localized-surface plasmon resonance and microfluidics

Dissolution-guided wetting for microarray and microfluidic devices

Blood separation on microfluidic paper-based analytical devices

Microfluidic cell volume sensor with tunable sensitivity

An integrated fiber-optic microfluidic device for detection of muscular force generation of microscopic nematodes

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Lab on a Chip’s top cited papers from 2009 and 2010

24 Jul 2012

By RSC Internet Services.

To celebrate last month’s release of the 2011 Impact Factors, we are making some of our best content free to access.

The collection brings together the 20 top cited Lab on a Chip papers from 2009 and 2010.

View the collection here.

All the articles are free to access for a limited time, following a simple registration for individual users.

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A message from the Optofluidics 2012 organizers

20 Jul 2012

By RSC Internet Services.

Dear Colleagues,

Optofluidics 2012 will be held in Suzhou on 13-14 September 2012. The deadline for abstract submission has been extended to 1 August 2012.

This year’s meeting will see more than 20 speakers presenting world-class research in the field of optofluidics. The meeting will not only focus on the latest research impacts in optofluidics, but will also explore multi-disciplinary research between optofluidics with basic science and high potential applications such as biomedical devices, the environment and energy, etc.

All conference papers will be considered for publication in the themed issue on Optofluidics in Lab on a Chip after the meeting.

Looking forward to meeting you in Suzhou,

Dr Albert Yu Bai, Co-Chair (Local Organizer)
Dr Li Ming Sun, Co-Chair (Local Organizer)

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Submicron particle focussing, 3D capillary networks & monitoring cell signalling in Issue 16

19 Jul 2012

By Francesca Burgoyne.

We’ve got some great artwork on the covers of Issue 16, on topics from particle focusing to creating 3D capillary networks and cell signalling.

On the outside front cover we have a HOT article from Ju Min Kim et al who have achieved viscoelasticity-driven focusing of particles as small as 200 nm – a technique which had previously only been achieved with micron-sized particles. The team also showed that DNA focusing is significantly enhanced by medium viscoelasticity and that the focussing of both the colloidal particles and DNA is dependant on length.

Lateral migration and focusing of colloidal particles and DNA molecules under viscoelastic flow
Jae Young Kim, Sung Won Ahn, Sung Sik Lee and Ju Min Kim
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40147A

On the inside front cover is another HOT article from Noo Li Jeon and colleagues at Seoul University who have designed a 3D array of perfusable capillaries from HUVECs. The the capillary network can be grown on the microfluidic device in 3-4 days and the authors hope will not only be useful for basic angiogenesis research but also drug screening applications.

In vitro formation and characterization of a perfusable three-dimensional tubular capillary network in microfluidic devices
Ju Hun Yeon, Hyun Ryul Ryu, Minhwan Chung, Qing Ping Hu and Noo Li Jeon
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40131B

Last but not least, on the back cover is research from Anup Singh and colleagues at Sandia National Laboratory who have developed a chip that enables dynamic monitoring of an entire cell signalling pathway in a single experiment, by combining cell culture, stimulation, and preparation for analysis by multicolor flow cytometry and fluorescence imaging in one device.

Microfluidically-unified cell culture, sample preparation, imaging and flow cytometry for measurement of cell signaling pathways with single cell resolution
Meiye Wu, Thomas D. Perroud, Nimisha Srivastava, Catherine S. Branda, Kenneth L. Sale, Bryan D. Carson, Kamlesh D. Patel, Steven S. Branda and Anup K. Singh
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40344G

As with all our cover articles these are free to access for 6 weeks (following a simple registration for an RSC Publishing account).

For more exciting miniaturisation research take a look at the rest of the issue

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Our content, straight to your inbox

16 Jul 2012

By RSC Internet Services.

Did you know that following a simple sign up, you could receive our table-of-contents e-alerts straight to your inbox? Once subscribed, you’ll receive your requested journals’ alerts each issue, meaning that you’ll never miss important research again!

Paper
A combined micromagnetic-microfluidic device for rapid capture and culture of rare circulating tumor cells
Joo H. Kang, Silva Krause, Heather Tobin, Akiko Mammoto, Mathumai Kanapathipillai and Donald E. Ingber
Lab Chip, 2012,12, 2175-2181
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40072C

Critical Review
Commercialization of microfluidic point-of-care diagnostic devices
Curtis D. Chin, Vincent Linder and Samuel K. Sia
Lab Chip, 2012,12, 2118-2134
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21204H

Communication
“Fluidic batteries” as low-cost sources of power in paper-based microfluidic devices
Nicole K. Thom, Kimy Yeung, Marley B. Pillion and Scott T. Phillips
Lab Chip, 2012,12, 1768-1770
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40126F

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HOT article: Ion diode logics for pH control

13 Jul 2012

By RSC Internet Services.

This week’s HOT article is by Magnus Berggren and co-workers at Linköping University, Sweden. The paper presents three different designs of micro-fabricated ion bipolar membrane diodes (IBMDs), which the authors demonstrate overcoming some of the problems of traditional fast switching ion diodes, such as accumulation of ions inside the device structure.

The first two designs are bipolar membranes which are capable of either splitting water or providing high current rectification. The third design incorporates the previous two, connecting the bipolar membranes in series, meaning that suppression of ion accumulation is achieved.

Ion diode logics for pH control
Erik O. Gabrielsson, Klas Tybrandt and Magnus Berggren
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40093F

This HOT article is free to access for the next four weeks following a simple registration for individual users.