Distinct and independent dielectrophoretic behavior of the head and tail of sperm and its potential for the safe sorting and isolation of rare spermatozoa

Shuchat, Sholom; Park, Sinwook; Kol, Shahar; Yossifon, Gilad

doi:10.1002/elps.201800437

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 51 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Hence, no intermediate equilibrium positions were obtained within the quadrupolar electrode array. In contrast, here we will demonstrate that if we engineer the Janus particle to have a large enough separation between its dielectric and metallic coated parts similar 2 to sperm cell [12], such intermediate equilibrium positions could be achieved. Such engineered Janus particle with controlled geometry and selective metallic coating is obtained using standard photolithography fabrication technique [13] (see supplementary materials for details of the particle fabrication).…”

mentioning

confidence: 71%

Dielectrophoretic Equilibrium of Complex Particles

Elkeles,

Garcia-Sanchez,

Yue

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In contrast to the commonly used spherical Janus particles, here we used engineered Janus particles that are fabricated using photolithography technique for precise control over their geometry and coated regions. Specifically, we studied a lollipop-shaped complex particle where its head is coated with gold while its tail is left bare. Due to their distinct electrical properties (i.e. electrical polarizability) the particle exhibits force equilibrium where opposite dielectrophoretic forces acting on its head and tail exactly cancel each other to yield a stable equilibrium position. This was realized in a quadrupolar electrode array where the equilibrium position of the engineered particle could be tuned by the frequency. This stands in contrast to the standard dielectrophoretic behavior where the particle shifts positions from either the center of the quad to the very edge of the electrodes when shifting from a negative to positive dielectrophoretic response, respectively. This opens new opportunities for positioning control of such complex particles for self-assembly, biosensing, biomimetic spermatozoa and more.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 71%

Dielectrophoretic Equilibrium of Complex Particles

Elkeles,

Garcia-Sanchez,

Yue

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Electrophoresis was first used to separate X and Y-sperm around 40 years ago, this technique demonstrated the high efficiency of separation but was very toxic to sperm [36,37]. Electrophoresis use a uniform electric field, generated using direct current (DC), this technique uses high energy to move the cell and can be more lethal to the cells than dielectrophoresis [38,39]. Our study demonstrated that dielectrophoresis is safe for sperm in the proper buffer, the decrease in sperm quality was not affected by the electrical condition but the buffer choice.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enrichment of bovine X-sperm using microfluidic dielectrophoretic chip: A proof-of- concept study

Wongtawan

Dararatana

Thongkittidilok

et al. 2020

Heliyon

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The microfluidic dielectrophoretic (MF-DEP) chip is a new, economical and readily-available technology that might be used to enrich X-sperm for increasing female offspring in dairy farms. In this study, we sought to develop an MF-DEP chip to enrich X bovine sperm. The MF-DEP chip was composed of an electrode attached to a glass slide and a microchannel made from polydimethylsiloxane. Sex-sorted sperm from flow cytometry were used to identify optimal electric field conditions while unsorted sperm were later tested for sorting efficiency. The results show that during dielectrophoresis some sperm attached to the electrode (called positive DEP; pDEP) whereas other moved away from the electrode (called negative DEP; nDEP). X and Y-sperm responded to dielectrophoresis differently depending on various factors such as buffers, voltages, and frequencies. We found that the condition 4 V 1 MHz significantly reduced (P < 0.05) the percentage of Y-sperm to nearly 30 and therefore enriched X-sperm. The sorting efficiency was dependent on buffer, bull, sorting cycle, flow rate, electrical voltage, and frequency. Notably, the best sorting buffer found in this experiment was the conducting buffer, but this buffer significantly reduced sperm viability and motility. Other sperm-friendly buffers, TRIS and mHTF, were also used, but could not enrich X-sperm. In conclusion, this is a proof of concept that the MF-DEP chip can be effectively used to enrich bovine X-sperm. However, more research must be performed particularly to find the best sorting buffer to effectively sex-sort sperm while providing high motility and sperm viability.

show abstract

“…Cells were then released by lowering the frequency incrementally and collected at an outlet port. Schucat et al 146 designed an electrode array in a microfluidic device to act as an automated platform for sperm cell separation. A quadrupolar electrode array was fabricated onto an indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass slide using photolithography and wetetching and a PDMS microchannel was utilized to examine the effects of different DEP forces on sperm cells.…”

Section: ■ Cell Separation Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cell Separations and Sorting

2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The development of new methods and technologies for cell separation, sorting, selection, isolation, or enrichment (many times the aforementioned terms are used interchangeably) are becoming more imperative due in part to the wealth of research aimed at addressing issues for the analysis of liquid biopsy targets, such as rare cells, to realize the concept of "precision medicine". Precision medicine is defined as "treatments targeted to the needs of individual patients on the basis of genetic, biomarker, phenotypic, or psychosocial characteristics that distinguish a patient from others with similar clinical presentations." 1 Before full implementation of precision medicine in a hospital or clinical setting, technological discoveries must be realized to assist in the analysis of disease-associated cells enriched from complex samples.Liquid biopsy markers and the cargo that they carry have been shown to be an attractive source of information that can be used to facilitate precise decisions for disease management. These biomarkers include, but are not limited to, rare cells such as circulating tumor cells (CTCs) or cancer stem cells (CSCs), immune cells (i.e., CD8+ T-cells), bacterial and viral cells, cell-free molecules such as cell free DNA (cfDNA), and extracellular vesicles (EVs). Liquid biopsies are attractive because of the minimally invasive nature of the sampling method (i.e., collection of peripheral blood, urine, saliva) to secure relevant biomarkers. These biomarkers can enable precision medicine decisions on managing a variety of diseases, including oncology and nononcology-related diseases. 2,3 Liquid biopsies *

show abstract

Distinct and independent dielectrophoretic behavior of the head and tail of sperm and its potential for the safe sorting and isolation of rare spermatozoa

Cited by 11 publications

References 51 publications

Dielectrophoretic Equilibrium of Complex Particles

Dielectrophoretic Equilibrium of Complex Particles

Enrichment of bovine X-sperm using microfluidic dielectrophoretic chip: A proof-of- concept study

Cell Separations and Sorting

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About