Development of MicroFluidic Palette for Cellular Responses to Chemical Stimuli

Current research tools to understand tumor cell migration and metastases are limited to linear gradients or constant flow across cells skewing results. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology developed a tool called the microfluidic palette which exposes cells to chemical stimuli in a static environment overcoming the limitations above. Several improvements are necessary before this technology can be put to use in research. 1) Simplify the current complex assembly and connections, 2) decrease the excessively large footprint, 3) integrate temperature control to enable mammalian cell culture. We will demonstrate a device design engineered to simplify use and utilize space efficiently. The device will occupy and 1”x3” slide footprint containing reservoirs for reagents and waste, demonstrate robust control of temperature, dissolved gas concentration, generation of a non-linear gradient and, multi-day study of tumor cell chemotaxis. While this phase I project will focus on a specific application, the system will be designed in a modular fashion that supports a variety of palette designs with up to four different stimuli.