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Sorting cells by their dynamical properties

Henry, Ewan ; Holm, Stefan H. LU ; Zhang, Zunmin ; Beech, Jason P. LU ; Tegenfeldt, Jonas O. LU orcid ; Fedosov, Dmitry A. and Gompper, Gerhard (2016) In Scientific Reports 6.
Abstract

Recent advances in cell sorting aim at the development of novel methods that are sensitive to various mechanical properties of cells. Microfluidic technologies have a great potential for cell sorting; however, the design of many micro-devices is based on theories developed for rigid spherical particles with size as a separation parameter. Clearly, most bioparticles are non-spherical and deformable and therefore exhibit a much more intricate behavior in fluid flow than rigid spheres. Here, we demonstrate the use of cells' mechanical and dynamical properties as biomarkers for separation by employing a combination of mesoscale hydrodynamic simulations and microfluidic experiments. The dynamic behavior of red blood cells (RBCs) within... (More)

Recent advances in cell sorting aim at the development of novel methods that are sensitive to various mechanical properties of cells. Microfluidic technologies have a great potential for cell sorting; however, the design of many micro-devices is based on theories developed for rigid spherical particles with size as a separation parameter. Clearly, most bioparticles are non-spherical and deformable and therefore exhibit a much more intricate behavior in fluid flow than rigid spheres. Here, we demonstrate the use of cells' mechanical and dynamical properties as biomarkers for separation by employing a combination of mesoscale hydrodynamic simulations and microfluidic experiments. The dynamic behavior of red blood cells (RBCs) within deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) devices is investigated for different device geometries and viscosity contrasts between the intra-cellular fluid and suspending medium. We find that the viscosity contrast and associated cell dynamics clearly determine the RBC trajectory through a DLD device. Simulation results compare well to experiments and provide new insights into the physical mechanisms which govern the sorting of non-spherical and deformable cells in DLD devices. Finally, we discuss the implications of cell dynamics for sorting schemes based on properties other than cell size, such as mechanics and morphology.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Scientific Reports
volume
6
article number
34375
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:27708337
  • wos:000385171400001
  • scopus:84990923185
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
10.1038/srep34375
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b40f33fa-22f5-4f78-b934-84c6c97a68f4
date added to LUP
2016-11-01 08:48:50
date last changed
2024-04-05 07:31:13
@article{b40f33fa-22f5-4f78-b934-84c6c97a68f4,
  abstract     = {{<p>Recent advances in cell sorting aim at the development of novel methods that are sensitive to various mechanical properties of cells. Microfluidic technologies have a great potential for cell sorting; however, the design of many micro-devices is based on theories developed for rigid spherical particles with size as a separation parameter. Clearly, most bioparticles are non-spherical and deformable and therefore exhibit a much more intricate behavior in fluid flow than rigid spheres. Here, we demonstrate the use of cells' mechanical and dynamical properties as biomarkers for separation by employing a combination of mesoscale hydrodynamic simulations and microfluidic experiments. The dynamic behavior of red blood cells (RBCs) within deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) devices is investigated for different device geometries and viscosity contrasts between the intra-cellular fluid and suspending medium. We find that the viscosity contrast and associated cell dynamics clearly determine the RBC trajectory through a DLD device. Simulation results compare well to experiments and provide new insights into the physical mechanisms which govern the sorting of non-spherical and deformable cells in DLD devices. Finally, we discuss the implications of cell dynamics for sorting schemes based on properties other than cell size, such as mechanics and morphology.</p>}},
  author       = {{Henry, Ewan and Holm, Stefan H. and Zhang, Zunmin and Beech, Jason P. and Tegenfeldt, Jonas O. and Fedosov, Dmitry A. and Gompper, Gerhard}},
  issn         = {{2045-2322}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Scientific Reports}},
  title        = {{Sorting cells by their dynamical properties}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep34375}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/srep34375}},
  volume       = {{6}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}