Final Report Summary - ELAB4LIFE (eLab4Life: Electr(ochem)ical Labs-on-a-Chip for Life Sciences)
In the eLab4Life project different electrical and electrochemical methods for (single) cell manipulation and bioanalysis have been developed. A new method for in-situ single cell “breathing” measurement has been developed and published, enabling the “health” monitoring of single fertilized oocytes. This technique may improve the success rate of Artificial Reproductive Techniques (ART) and may help to reduce complications associated with multiple pregnancies. Successes were obtained with the development of a redox-cycling sensor using nanospaced electrodes in combination with a Scanning ElectroChemical Microscope (SECM), resulting a.o. in Differential Cycling Voltammetry (DCV), a new selective electrochemical measurement technique, and in improved sensitivity. The same SECM instrument was used to monitor the oxygen consumption of HeLa-cell microtissues, that were grown in a microwell array inside a Petri dish, fabricated using a newly developed hot embossing technique. This result may lead to new drug development tools enabling high-throughput drug screening. Finally, in another project controlled electrofusion of single cells was investigated. Because an initially chosen parallel platform only yielded limited success, a high-speed (1000 cells/s) serial, microdroplet based platform was developed and investigated. With this platform, single cell encapsulation, electrical cell detection, droplet pairing, droplet shrinking, droplet fusion, and cell fusion have all been successfully be demonstrated in a high-throughput manner. The ultimate goal, nuclear cell fusion and antibody producing hybridoma production is the last step to be demonstrated.
In conclusion, the project has yielded enormous progress in electrical/electrochemical techniques for cell manipulation and analysis. One technique is actually developed for commercial use in a ERC-Proof of Concept project. Two theses have successfully been defended, two are to be finished this year (2014). Eight peer reviewed articles have been published, two are under review and another three in preparation.
In conclusion, the project has yielded enormous progress in electrical/electrochemical techniques for cell manipulation and analysis. One technique is actually developed for commercial use in a ERC-Proof of Concept project. Two theses have successfully been defended, two are to be finished this year (2014). Eight peer reviewed articles have been published, two are under review and another three in preparation.