High throughput system for magnetic manipulation of cells, polymers, and biomaterials

In the past decade, high throughput screening (HTS) has changed the way biochemical assays are performed, but manipulation and mechanical measurement of micro- and nanoscale systems have not benefited from this trend. Techniques using microbeads (particles approximately 0.1-10 mum) show promise for...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inReview of scientific instruments Vol. 79; no. 8; p. 083707
Main Authors Spero, Richard Chasen, Vicci, Leandra, Cribb, Jeremy, Bober, David, Swaminathan, Vinay, O'Brien, E Timothy, Rogers, Stephen L, Superfine, R
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.08.2008
Subjects
Animals
Biocompatible Materials - chemistry
Calibration
Cells - cytology
Cells, Cultured
Drosophila - cytology
Equipment Design
Magnetics - instrumentation
Micromanipulation - instrumentation
Micromanipulation - methods
Microscopy, Video
Microspheres
Miniaturization
Physical Phenomena
Polymers - chemistry
Temperature
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Summary:In the past decade, high throughput screening (HTS) has changed the way biochemical assays are performed, but manipulation and mechanical measurement of micro- and nanoscale systems have not benefited from this trend. Techniques using microbeads (particles approximately 0.1-10 mum) show promise for enabling high throughput mechanical measurements of microscopic systems. We demonstrate instrumentation to magnetically drive microbeads in a biocompatible, multiwell magnetic force system. It is based on commercial HTS standards and is scalable to 96 wells. Cells can be cultured in this magnetic high throughput system (MHTS). The MHTS can apply independently controlled forces to 16 specimen wells. Force calibrations demonstrate forces in excess of 1 nN, predicted force saturation as a function of pole material, and powerlaw dependence of F approximately r(-2.7+/-0.1). We employ this system to measure the stiffness of SR2+ Drosophila cells. MHTS technology is a key step toward a high throughput screening system for micro- and nanoscale biophysical experiments.
ISSN:1089-7623
DOI:10.1063/1.2976156