Microfabricated Polyacrylamide Devices for the Controlled Culture of Growing Cells and Developing Organisms

The ability to spatially confine living cells or small organisms while dynamically controlling their aqueous environment is important for a host of microscopy applications. Here, we show how polyacrylamide layers can be patterned to construct simple microfluidic devices for this purpose. We find that polyacrylamide gels can be molded like PDMS into micron-scale structures that can enclose organisms, while being permeable to liquids, and transparent to allow for microscopic observation. We present a range of chemostat-like devices to observe bacterial and yeast growth, and C. elegans nematode development. The devices can integrate PDMS layers and allow for temporal control of nutrient conditions and the presence of drugs on a minute timescale. We show how spatial confinement of motile C. elegans enables for time-lapse microscopy in a parallel fashion.

能够在对活细胞或小型生物进行空间限域的同时，动态调控其所处的水环境，这一能力在诸多显微成像应用中具有重要价值。本研究展示了如何通过图案化聚丙烯酰胺（polyacrylamide）层，构建用于实现上述目标的简易微流控器件。研究发现，聚丙烯酰胺凝胶可如同聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）一般被塑造成微米级结构，能够包裹生物样本，同时具备液体通透性与光学透明性，可满足显微观测需求。本研究开发了一系列类恒化器器件，用于观测细菌与酵母菌的生长过程，以及秀丽隐杆线虫（Caenorhabditis elegans，C. elegans）的发育历程。该类器件可集成聚二甲基硅氧烷层，能够在分钟级时间尺度上实现营养条件与药物添加的时序调控。本研究还展示了如何通过对运动型秀丽隐杆线虫进行空间限域，实现并行化的延时显微成像。