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PMID: 18682362 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Review

Microfluidic single-cell analysis of intracellular compounds.

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface ·Vol. 5 Suppl 2 ·2008-10-06 ·Pages S139-50

Chao TC, Ros A

Abstract

Biological analyses traditionally probe cell ensembles in the range of 103-106 cells, thereby completely averaging over relevant individual cell responses, such as differences in cell proliferation, responses to external stimuli or disease onset. In past years, this fact has been realized and increasing interest has evolved for single-cell analytical methods, which could give exciting new insights into genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics and systems biology. Microfluidic or lab-on-a-chip devices are the method of choice for single-cell analytical tools as they allow the integration of a variety of necessary process steps involved in single-cell analysis, such as selection, navigation, positioning or lysis of single cells as well as separation and detection of cellular analytes. Along with this advantageous integration, microfluidic devices confine single cells in compartments near their intrinsic volume, thus minimizing dilution effects and increasing detection sensitivity. This review overviews the developments and achievements of microfluidic single-cell analysis of intracellular compounds in the past few years, from proof-of-principle devices to applications demonstrating a high biological relevance.

MeSH Terms
Amino Acids/analysis Cell Fractionation Cell Separation Cells/chemistry DNA/analysis Electric Impedance Electroporation Fluorescent Dyes/analysis Microfluidic Analytical Techniques Proteins/analysis RNA/analysis
Chemicals
Amino Acids Fluorescent Dyes Proteins RNA DNA
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Chao Tzu-Chiao
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Arizona State University, Box 871604, Tempe, AZ 85287-1604, USA.
Ros Alexandra
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Article Info
Journal
Journal of the Royal Society, Interface
Abbr.
J R Soc Interface
ISSN
1742-5689
DOI
10.1098/rsif.2008.0233.focus
Published
2008-10-06
Pages
S139-50
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
101217269
PMCID
PMC2706030
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2008.0233.focus PMC Full Text View journal details
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