The main objective for this project is to formulate valid protocols for culturing neuronal cells. The cell line of focus will be PC-12 cells, a cell-line from rat pheochromocytoma, cultured in microfluidic devices. Microfluidic devices are progressively used for a variety of biological applications, such as protein crystallization, PCR, single cell analysis, and cell culture. These offer advantages for both spatial and temporal manipulations of cellular microenvironments. The device will be fabricated by composing a master of epoxy photoresist (SU-8) using photolithography and then making the replica using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). SU-8 polymerizes when exposed to ultraviolet light and can be used to create relatively high structures, in the range of hundreds of microns, which are sufficient for cell culture. Culture conditions will be tested to obtain the maximum cell growth and viability. After a valid culture protocol is established, cell-to-cell communication will be studied. Effects of selected test compounds on cell release of neurotransmitters will be investigated by analyzing the perfusion samples with an LC-MS.Keywords:  Microfluidic devices, SU8, PDMS, Neurotransmitters

Culturing cells in microfluidic devices for cell signaling

247th National Meeting (2014)

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