Microfabrication of High-Resolution Porous Membranes for Cell Culture.
Microfabrication of High-Resolution Porous Membranes for Cell Culture.
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DOI：
10.1016/j.memsci.2013.11.034
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发表时间：
2014-02-15
影响因子：
9.5
通讯作者：
Hui EE
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kim MY;Li DJ;Pham LK;Wong BG;Hui EE
微孔膜在细胞生物学中被广泛用于研究细胞-细胞信号传导和细胞迁移。然而，商业径迹蚀刻膜的厚度和低孔隙率限制了细胞成像的质量和在这种装置上可以实现的细胞-细胞接触的程度。我们采用基于光刻的微加工来实现孔径小至0.9 μm、孔隙率高达40%且孔径变化小于5%的多孔膜。通过使用肥皂释放层，可以实现薄至1 μm的膜。与商业膜不同，该薄膜最小程度地破坏对比度增强光学器件，从而允许未标记细胞在白色光下的良好质量成像。此外，即使在图案化之后，聚合物膜材料也显示低的自发荧光，从而促进高质量的荧光显微术。最后，共聚焦成像表明，通过这些薄膜的孔，大量的细胞-细胞接触是可能的。这种膜技术可以增强多孔膜在细胞生物学中的现有用途，并使新型实验成为可能。
Microporous membranes are widely utilized in cell biology to study cell-cell signaling and cell migration. However, the thickness and low porosity of commercial track-etched membranes limit the quality of cell imaging and the degree of cell-cell contact that can be achieved on such devices. We employ photolithography-based microfabrication to achieve porous membranes with pore diameter as small as 0.9 μm, up to 40% porosity, and less than 5% variation in pore size. Through the use of a soap release layer, membranes as thin as 1 μm can be achieved. The thin membranes minimally disrupt contrast enhancement optics, thus allowing good quality imaging of unlabeled cells under white light, unlike commercial membranes. In addition, the polymer membrane materials display low autofluorescence even after patterning, facilitating high quality fluorescence microscopy. Finally, confocal imaging suggests that substantial cell-cell contact is possible through the pores of these thin membranes. This membrane technology can enhance existing uses of porous membranes in cell biology as well as enable new types of experiments.