On‐Chip Rotation of <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> Using Microfluidic Vortices

Pan, Peng; Laver, John; Qin, Zhen; Zhou, Yuxiao; Peng, Ran; Zhao, Lijun; Xie, Hui; Calarco, John A.; Liu, Xinyu

doi:10.1002/admt.202000575

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…As a small model organism, the nematode worm C. elegans has many advantages, such as small size, a short life cycle, a transparent body, and a significant genomic overlap (~60-80%) with humans 1,2 . Because of these merits, C. elegans is widely used in biological and medical studies such as neurodegenerative disease research 3,4 , gene screening 5 , drug discovery 6 , and many others [7][8][9][10][11] . The developmental stages of C. elegans include the embryonic stage, the four larval stages (L1-L4), and the adult stage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A spiral microfluidic device for rapid sorting, trapping, and long-term live imaging of Caenorhabditis elegans embryos

Pan

Qin

Sun³

et al. 2023

Microsyst Nanoeng

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Caenorhabditis elegans embryos have been widely used to study cellular processes and developmental regulation at early stages. However, most existing microfluidic devices focus on the studies of larval or adult worms rather than embryos. To accurately study the real-time dynamics of embryonic development under different conditions, many technical barriers must be overcome; these can include single-embryo sorting and immobilization, precise control of the experimental environment, and long-term live imaging of embryos. This paper reports a spiral microfluidic device for effective sorting, trapping, and long-term live imaging of single C. elegans embryos under precisely controlled experimental conditions. The device successfully sorts embryos from a mixed population of C. elegans at different developmental stages via Dean vortices generated inside a spiral microchannel and traps the sorted embryos at single-cell resolution through hydrodynamic traps on the sidewall of the spiral channel for long-term imaging. Through the well-controlled microenvironment inside the microfluidic device, the response of the trapped C. elegans embryos to mechanical and chemical stimulation can be quantitatively measured. The experimental results show that a gentle hydrodynamic force would induce faster growth of embryos, and embryos developmentally arrested in the high-salinity solution could be rescued by the M9 buffer. The microfluidic device provides new avenues for easy, rapid, high-content screening of C. elegans embryos.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A spiral microfluidic device for rapid sorting, trapping, and long-term live imaging of Caenorhabditis elegans embryos

Pan

Qin

Sun³

et al. 2023

Microsyst Nanoeng

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“…et al, 2017). Microfabricated devices for precise and controllable rotation of organisms, for analysis of specific body parts, imaging or injection of substances, were already fabricated for C. elegans (Pan et al, 2021) and zebrafish models (Zhang et al, 2017).…”

Section: Innovative Approaches To Assessing Nms Toxicity Using Daphni...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Daphnia as a model organism to probe biological responses to nanomaterials—from individual to population effects via adverse outcome pathways

et al. 2023

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The importance of the cladoceran Daphnia as a model organism for ecotoxicity testing has been well-established since the 1980s. Daphnia have been increasingly used in standardised testing of chemicals as they are well characterised and show sensitivity to pollutants, making them an essential indicator species for environmental stress. The mapping of the genomes of D. pulex in 2012 and D. magna in 2017 further consolidated their utility for ecotoxicity testing, including demonstrating the responsiveness of the Daphnia genome to environmental stressors. The short lifecycle and parthenogenetic reproduction make Daphnia useful for assessment of developmental toxicity and adaption to stress. The emergence of nanomaterials (NMs) and their safety assessment has introduced some challenges to the use of standard toxicity tests which were developed for soluble chemicals. NMs have enormous reactive surface areas resulting in dynamic interactions with dissolved organic carbon, proteins and other biomolecules in their surroundings leading to a myriad of physical, chemical, biological, and macromolecular transformations of the NMs and thus changes in their bioavailability to, and impacts on, daphnids. However, NM safety assessments are also driving innovations in our approaches to toxicity testing, for both chemicals and other emerging contaminants such as microplastics (MPs). These advances include establishing more realistic environmental exposures via medium composition tuning including pre-conditioning by the organisms to provide relevant biomolecules as background, development of microfluidics approaches to mimic environmental flow conditions typical in streams, utilisation of field daphnids cultured in the lab to assess adaption and impacts of pre-exposure to pollution gradients, and of course development of mechanistic insights to connect the first encounter with NMs or MPs to an adverse outcome, via the key events in an adverse outcome pathway. Insights into these developments are presented below to inspire further advances and utilisation of these important organisms as part of an overall environmental risk assessment of NMs and MPs impacts, including in mixture exposure scenarios.

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“…These microphysiological devices are intended to mirror the functions of a specific tissue, organ, or physiopathological condition to serve as a model for in vitro studies. , Furthermore, the addition of three-dimensional (3D) structures (e.g., hydrogels and scaffolds) or cell aggregates (e.g., spheroids or organoids) allows for obtaining more elaborate models. , The 3D culture of cells and the application of a dynamic environment (e.g., perfusion, shear stress) better represent tissues’ nature and lead to more reliable outcomes than conventional two-dimensional (2D) static cell cultures . Finally, microfluidic chips can also be built to host small organisms such as Caenorhabditis elegans worms, Drosophila melanogaster, and larvae of Danio rerio . − Microfluidic chips also allow for the manipulation of these small animals with care and precision, eliminating their potential damage due to mishandling . These in vivo models provide great opportunities for drug screening as well as efficacy and toxicity evaluation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microfluidic Devices: A Tool for Nanoparticle Synthesis and Performance Evaluation

Gimondi,

Ferreira,

Reis

et al. 2023

ACS Nano

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The use of nanoparticles (NPs) in nanomedicine holds great promise for the treatment of diseases for which conventional therapies present serious limitations. Additionally, NPs can drastically improve early diagnosis and follow-up of many disorders. However, to harness their full capabilities, they must be precisely designed, produced, and tested in relevant models. Microfluidic systems can simulate dynamic fluid flows, gradients, specific microenvironments, and multiorgan complexes, providing an efficient and cost-effective approach for both NPs synthesis and screening. Microfluidic technologies allow for the synthesis of NPs under controlled conditions, enhancing batch-to-batch reproducibility. Moreover, due to the versatility of microfluidic devices, it is possible to generate and customize endless platforms for rapid and efficient in vitro and in vivo screening of NPs’ performance. Indeed, microfluidic devices show great potential as advanced systems for small organism manipulation and immobilization. In this review, first we summarize the major microfluidic platforms that allow for controlled NPs synthesis. Next, we will discuss the most innovative microfluidic platforms that enable mimicking in vitro environments as well as give insights into organism-on-a-chip and their promising application for NPs screening. We conclude this review with a critical assessment of the current challenges and possible future directions of microfluidic systems in NPs synthesis and screening to impact the field of nanomedicine.

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On‐Chip Rotation of Caenorhabditis elegans Using Microfluidic Vortices

Cited by 8 publications

References 37 publications

A spiral microfluidic device for rapid sorting, trapping, and long-term live imaging of Caenorhabditis elegans embryos

A spiral microfluidic device for rapid sorting, trapping, and long-term live imaging of Caenorhabditis elegans embryos

Daphnia as a model organism to probe biological responses to nanomaterials—from individual to population effects via adverse outcome pathways

Microfluidic Devices: A Tool for Nanoparticle Synthesis and Performance Evaluation

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