Microfluidic alignment system for single cell manipulation and culture

Microfluidic alignment system for single cell manipulation and culture was developed to investigate the differences between individual cells in cell biology. We describe a microfluidic manipulation system that consists of a main channel, a pressure balancing channel (PBC), 3 μm drain channels and semicircle micropockets of 100 μm in diameter, for single cell capture, cell release and cell culture. Fundamental single cell manipulation was obtained by simple flow rate, the ratio between the cells that passed though the injected microchannel and captured cell were about 72%. Multiplication from the single cell in the micropocket was confirmed up to the third generation. This microfluidic system realized noninvasive capture of living single cells, and long-term culture up to 6 days. And this system contributes to the elucidation of cellular nature at the single cell level.