High throughput cell cycle analysis using microfluidic image cytometry (μFIC).

Microfluidic image cytometry (μFIC) is a novel approach for the cytotoxicity assessment of the cells cultured and treated within microfluidic channels under a precisely controlled chemical environment. Here, following our previous morphology-, and MTT absorbance-based μFIC, we are presenting our recent effort to develop, evaluate, and apply a high throughput cell cycle analysis method using fluorescence-based μFIC. A microfluidic device with a concentrantion gradient generator (CGG) and eight straight cell culture channels was fabricated, optimized, and applied for the assessment of paclitaxel-induced cell cycle changes of HeLa cells. Throughout this study, we have shown that the cell cycle analysis using fluorescence-based μFIC was able to provide comparable experimental data with those of flow cytometry. Moreover, cell cycle analysis using μFIC can also provide further advantages over flow cytometry, such as higher throughput, lower assay cost, less generation of toxic waste, and etc., which should have significant implications in pharmaceutical and biological applications as a future high throughput cell cycle analysis platform.