Fish‐Microarray: A Miniaturized Platform for Single‐Embryo High‐Throughput Screenings

Abstract

Small molecule high-throughput screenings are essential for the fields of drug discovery and toxicology. Such screenings performed on whole animals are more physiologically relevant leading to more predictive results. However, due to challenges in automation, high costs and absence of miniaturized solutions for animal-based experiments, high throughput screenings based on animal models are still in its infancy. Here a platform for miniaturized high throughput whole-organism screenings is presented. The new platform is based on patterns of hydrophilic spots separated by superhydrophobic borders. The difference in wettability of spots and borders generates the effect of discontinuous dewetting and allows for formation of arrays of microdroplets that incorporate single fish embryos. Due to the flat border-less nature of the platform, the system is compatible with single-step collection of embryos and pipetting-free parallel addition of chemical libraries using the "sandwiching method." The system is miniaturized and allows for incubation of embryos in volumes as low as 5 µL. Finally, the platform realizes surface tension based immobilization of single embryos inside of each microcompartment and permits high-throughput microscopic analysis directly on the platform. Thus, this method combines the advantages of microarrays, such as highthroughput and simplicity, with the power of in vivo experiments. Fish-Microarrays

Droplet Precise Self‐Splitting on Patterned Adhesive Surfaces for Simultaneous Multidetection

“…Microdroplets provide excellent platforms for microreactions and have elicited enormous research interest for their potential application in biological assays, [1][2][3][4] combinatorial analysis, [5][6][7][8][9][10] and drug discovery, [11,12] for which it is crucial to separate microdroplets and deposit them into desired locations with as pecific arrangement and morphology.S of ar, various methods have been developed and employed to distribute microdroplets,s uch as inkjet printing,d ispensing, discontinuous dewetting, and microfluidics. [13][14][15][16] Forexample, biosample suspensions were separated into microdroplet arrays and used for incubation and screening, [17] and microdroplets of ac olloidal nanoparticle solution were dispensed and assembled for fluorescence-based metal-ion recognition.…”

“…Microdroplets provide excellent platforms for microreactions and have elicited enormous research interest for their potential application in biological assays, combinatorial analysis, and drug discovery, for which it is crucial to separate microdroplets and deposit them into desired locations with a specific arrangement and morphology. So far, various methods have been developed and employed to distribute microdroplets, such as inkjet printing, dispensing, discontinuous dewetting, and microfluidics .…”

Droplet Microarrays: From Surface Patterning to High‐Throughput Applications

“…The former clear the way to a diverse spectrum of biologically relevant applications, such as cell screenings, stem cell screenings, single cell applications, cell spheroid screenings, hydrogel patterning, biochemical screenings, or even full animal (e.g., zebrafish) screenings. [140,141] The latter open the possibility to perform organic synthesis in pico to microliter droplets in parallel. High-throughput screenings of catalysts, polymer synthesis, drug library screenings, synthesis of transfection reagents, and nanoparticle synthesis are all imaginable potential applications.…”

Rücktitelbild: Droplet Precise Self‐Splitting on Patterned Adhesive Surfaces for Simultaneous Multidetection (Angew. Chem. 26/2020)

“…Microdroplets provide excellent platforms for microreactions and have elicited enormous research interest for their potential application in biological assays, [1][2][3][4] combinatorial analysis, [5][6][7][8][9][10] and drug discovery, [11,12] for which it is crucial to separate microdroplets and deposit them into desired locations with as pecific arrangement and morphology.S of ar, various methods have been developed and employed to distribute microdroplets,s uch as inkjet printing,d ispensing, discontinuous dewetting, and microfluidics. [13][14][15][16] Forexample, biosample suspensions were separated into microdroplet arrays and used for incubation and screening, [17] and microdroplets of ac olloidal nanoparticle solution were dispensed and assembled for fluorescence-based metal-ion recognition.…”