Microfluidic serial dilution cell-based assay for analyzing drug dose response over a wide concentration range.

In this paper we report a perfusion culture microchamber array chip with a serial dilution microfluidic network for analyzing drug dose response over a concentration range spanning 6 orders of magnitude, which is required for practical drug discovery applications. The microchamber array chip was equipped with a pressure-driven interface, in which medium and drug solution were added with a micropipet and delivered into the microfluidic network by pneumatic pressure. We demonstrated that the microchamber array chip could be used to estimate the 50% growth inhibitory concentration using the model anticancer drug paclitaxel and the model cancer cell line HeLa. The results obtained by using the microchamber array chip were consistent with those obtained by a conventional assay using microplates. The microchamber array chip, with its simple interface and well-designed microfluidic network, has potential as an efficient platform for high-throughput dose response assays in drug discovery applications.