Introduction As part of our continuing evaluation of the flow cell developed by our collaborators at RIT, our next goal is to demonstrate that neutrophils remain inactivated when flown through a first generation device (Figure 1). For this, we studied neutrophil activation as a function of fluid flow induced shear stress based on the physical…
Starting in December of 2019, we began capturing fluorescent beads on microslit silicon nanomembranes as an illustrative representation of particle capture within our microfluidic devices. From then until now we have successfully used this method within gasket made TFAC devices and uSiM ALine devices using a range of micropore sizes/shapes and bead sizes. These experiments…
Introduction In addition to in situ measurements of small molecule permeability (Parts 1, 2 and 3), we wish to enable an assessment of permeability by sampling from the abluminal chamber of the µSiM in a manner similar to what is done with Transwells®-style devices. To begin this, we need to review the methods used with…
Introduction Proliferation, invasion and metastasis of cancer cells require bidirectional cell-cell communication. Cell-cell communication involves the secretion of oncoproteins, mRNAs, RNAs and DNA fragments by cancer cells. The particles that get secreted by these cancer cells are encapsulated in extracellular vesicles (EVs), which include exosomes. Since evidence suggests that cancer cells secrete more EVs than…
This is the third installment in a series of posts focused on the development of a method for measuring barrier permeability in the µSiM. In Part 1 we discussed the goal of making these measurements in situ at a position beneath the membrane. In Part 2 we validated this approach experimentally on the Andor Dragonfly…
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Introduction This post highlights results from my second attempt to differentiate hiPSCs into endothelial progenitor cells EECM-BMEC-like cells in our lab. For details on methodology, see Nishihara et al., FASEB, 2020 and my previous post. Methods Cells were seeded at 70,000 and 100,000 cells/well on D-3. Only the 100,000 cell/well plate was sorted. Due to media being backordered,…
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Note: a postscript regarding an assay to determine the activity of our MMP-2/MMP-9 inhibitor was added to this post on June 14, 2021. Introduction The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays an important role in maintaining brain chemistry by restricting the permeability of small molecules and cells. Inflammatory diseases may disrupt the BBB and promote the development…
A quick recap of the goals and initial experiments: https://trace-bmps.org/electrospinning-aligned-polymeric-fibers-on-parylene-stensils/ After obtaining a reproducible optimized fiber deposition settings and an improved device design, we moved on to growing HUVECs on these devices as the next step. As previously stated, given that there is a parallel project with membrane masking of ECM with parylene stencils, we…