Cellular Transport Dispersion in Microfluidic Channels

微流体通道中的细胞传输分散

• 批准号: RGPIN-2015-06541
• 负责人: Ma, Hongshen
• 金额: $ 1.82万
• 依托单位: University of British Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=680339
• 关键词: Cellular; Transport; Dispersion; Microfluidic; Channels

The mechanical properties of cells are important in a wide range of areas in medicine and biology. For example, malaria is caused by a microscopic parasite that spends part of its lifecycle inside human red blood cells. The deformability, or stiffness, of red blood cells infected with this parasite is related to the growth of the parasite and its response to drugs. Therefore, characterization of cellular deformability could be used to measure parasite growth and drug activity. Similarly, the deformability of cancer cells may indicate their ability to invade healthy tissue, and therefore may be used to assess the aggressiveness of the disease and enable clinicians to select optimal treatment.******In this proposal, we aim to develop a new class of tools for measuring the deformability of various types of human cells including red blood cells, white blood cells, and cancer cells. These tools leverage technologies developed for the fabrication of silicon microchips to create structures at the length scale of individual cells. Combining this capability with other manufacturing methods and modern instrumentation will enable us to develop technologies to more easily and more accurately measure cellular deformability, as well as to perform large numbers of such studies in parallel.******The anticipated outcomes of this proposal are new tools and principles that could be used by biomedical scientists to establish the relationship between cellular deformability and the properties of various diseases. These tools will then form the foundation for standard biological tests in a wide range of areas including optimization of conditions for blood storage; detection and treatment of infectious diseases, such as malaria; management of hereditary diseases, such as sickle cell and thalassemia; and evaluation of cancer disease and drug response.

细胞的力学性质在医学和生物学的广泛领域中是重要的。例如，疟疾是由一种微小的寄生虫引起的，这种寄生虫的生命周期的一部分是在人体红细胞内度过的。感染这种寄生虫的红细胞的变形性或硬度与寄生虫的生长及其对药物的反应有关。因此，细胞变形性的表征可用于测量寄生虫生长和药物活性。类似地，癌细胞的变形性可能表明它们侵入健康组织的能力，因此可以用于评估疾病的侵袭性，并使临床医生能够选择最佳治疗方法。在本提案中，我们的目标是开发一种新的工具，用于测量各种类型的人体细胞，包括红细胞，白色血细胞和癌细胞的变形性。这些工具利用为制造硅微芯片而开发的技术，以单个电池的长度尺度创建结构。将这种能力与其他制造方法和现代仪器相结合，将使我们能够开发出更容易和更准确地测量细胞变形性的技术，并同时进行大量此类研究。该提案的预期成果是生物医学科学家可以用来建立细胞变形性与各种疾病性质之间关系的新工具和原理。这些工具将成为广泛领域标准生物测试的基础，包括优化血液储存条件;检测和治疗疟疾等传染病;管理镰状细胞和地中海贫血等遗传性疾病;以及评估癌症和药物反应。