Single cell separation in microplates through micro patterning of “clickable” hydrogels

In this study, we report a novel approach for separating microspheres or cells on microstructured surfaces. These structures consist of μ-structured hydrogel coatings fabricated by photolithography on the bottoms of standard plastic microplate wells. The process is based on the deposition and subseq...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alexander J. Straub, Frank D. Scherag, Mark-Steven Steiner, Thomas Brandstetter, Jürgen Rühe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Micro and Nano Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590007224000480
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850124274189205504
author Alexander J. Straub
Frank D. Scherag
Mark-Steven Steiner
Thomas Brandstetter
Jürgen Rühe
author_facet Alexander J. Straub
Frank D. Scherag
Mark-Steven Steiner
Thomas Brandstetter
Jürgen Rühe
author_sort Alexander J. Straub
collection DOAJ
description In this study, we report a novel approach for separating microspheres or cells on microstructured surfaces. These structures consist of μ-structured hydrogel coatings fabricated by photolithography on the bottoms of standard plastic microplate wells. The process is based on the deposition and subsequent irradiation of copolymers containing a hydrophilic main component and benzophenone moieties that can react with C, H groups during UV exposure through a photomask, a process known as “C,H insertion crosslinking” (CHic). The photolithographic process is used to generate an egg-box-like topography of the coating. Gravity, Brownian motion, and physical surface interactions drive particles or cells pipetted onto the surfaces to distinct locations on this topography so that after a short time these locations contain only one single particles or cells. We show that the presented technique enables the separation of thousands of objects as different as polymer microparticles or biological cells by simply adding a suspension to the coated wells of the microplate and wait for a short time (a few minutes). This strategy is quite general and not specific to a certain type of cell or microparticle and thus allow effortless separation of particles or cells.
format Article
id doaj-art-9acdef417897400d85b20f07d96fa229
institution OA Journals
issn 2590-0072
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Micro and Nano Engineering
spelling doaj-art-9acdef417897400d85b20f07d96fa2292025-08-20T02:34:20ZengElsevierMicro and Nano Engineering2590-00722024-12-012510028510.1016/j.mne.2024.100285Single cell separation in microplates through micro patterning of “clickable” hydrogelsAlexander J. Straub0Frank D. Scherag1Mark-Steven Steiner2Thomas Brandstetter3Jürgen Rühe4Laboratory for Chemistry and Physics of Interfaces, Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK), University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 103, 79110 Freiburg, GermanyLaboratory for Chemistry and Physics of Interfaces, Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK), University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 103, 79110 Freiburg, GermanyIndependent ResearcherLaboratory for Chemistry and Physics of Interfaces, Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK), University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 103, 79110 Freiburg, GermanyLaboratory for Chemistry and Physics of Interfaces, Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK), University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 103, 79110 Freiburg, Germany; Corresponding author.In this study, we report a novel approach for separating microspheres or cells on microstructured surfaces. These structures consist of μ-structured hydrogel coatings fabricated by photolithography on the bottoms of standard plastic microplate wells. The process is based on the deposition and subsequent irradiation of copolymers containing a hydrophilic main component and benzophenone moieties that can react with C, H groups during UV exposure through a photomask, a process known as “C,H insertion crosslinking” (CHic). The photolithographic process is used to generate an egg-box-like topography of the coating. Gravity, Brownian motion, and physical surface interactions drive particles or cells pipetted onto the surfaces to distinct locations on this topography so that after a short time these locations contain only one single particles or cells. We show that the presented technique enables the separation of thousands of objects as different as polymer microparticles or biological cells by simply adding a suspension to the coated wells of the microplate and wait for a short time (a few minutes). This strategy is quite general and not specific to a certain type of cell or microparticle and thus allow effortless separation of particles or cells.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590007224000480Surface-attached polymer networksC,H insertion crosslinking (CHic)“Click” chemistryPhoto patterningSingle-cell separation
spellingShingle Alexander J. Straub
Frank D. Scherag
Mark-Steven Steiner
Thomas Brandstetter
Jürgen Rühe
Single cell separation in microplates through micro patterning of “clickable” hydrogels
Micro and Nano Engineering
Surface-attached polymer networks
C,H insertion crosslinking (CHic)
“Click” chemistry
Photo patterning
Single-cell separation
title Single cell separation in microplates through micro patterning of “clickable” hydrogels
title_full Single cell separation in microplates through micro patterning of “clickable” hydrogels
title_fullStr Single cell separation in microplates through micro patterning of “clickable” hydrogels
title_full_unstemmed Single cell separation in microplates through micro patterning of “clickable” hydrogels
title_short Single cell separation in microplates through micro patterning of “clickable” hydrogels
title_sort single cell separation in microplates through micro patterning of clickable hydrogels
topic Surface-attached polymer networks
C,H insertion crosslinking (CHic)
“Click” chemistry
Photo patterning
Single-cell separation
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590007224000480
work_keys_str_mv AT alexanderjstraub singlecellseparationinmicroplatesthroughmicropatterningofclickablehydrogels
AT frankdscherag singlecellseparationinmicroplatesthroughmicropatterningofclickablehydrogels
AT markstevensteiner singlecellseparationinmicroplatesthroughmicropatterningofclickablehydrogels
AT thomasbrandstetter singlecellseparationinmicroplatesthroughmicropatterningofclickablehydrogels
AT jurgenruhe singlecellseparationinmicroplatesthroughmicropatterningofclickablehydrogels