Microfluidics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The design of synthetic systems that can sense chemical gradients and respond with directional motility and chemical activity is of interest. Here, the authors realize and control such behaviors in a synthetic system by tailoring multivalent interactions of adenosine nucleotides with catalytic microbeads.

    • Ekta Shandilya
    • , Bhargav Rallabandi
    •  & Subhabrata Maiti

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Astrocytes adopt diverse states in response to brain injuries. Here, the authors develop a platform for spatially resolved, single-cell transcriptomics and proteomics, called tDISCO (tissue-digital microfluidic isolation of single cells for -Omics) to uncover the spatial boundaries of molecularly distinct reactive astrocyte populations in stroke.

    • Erica Y. Scott
    • , Nickie Safarian
    •  & Maryam Faiz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Vascularization remains a significant challenge in organoid technology. Here, the authors develop a microfluidic platform that enhances organoid growth, function and maturation, by establishing functional perfusable vascular networks.

    • Clément Quintard
    • , Emily Tubbs
    •  & Xavier Gidrol

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here the authors develop perfusable inner blood-retinal barrier-specific microvascular networks with human primary retinal microvascular cells. They show that chronic diabetic stimulation leads to the generation of early hallmarks of diabetic retinopathy, including pericyte and capillary dropout, ghost vessels, and inflammation.

    • Thomas L. Maurissen
    • , Alena J. Spielmann
    •  & Héloïse Ragelle

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The in-depth study on the sweat–blood partitioning mechanisms of amino acids is promising for noninvasive metabolic monitoring. Here, the authors develop a wearable biochip for sweat phenylalanine multimodal analysis aimed at tracking exercise metabolic risk and exploring the sweat–blood correlation.

    • Bowen Zhong
    • , Xiaokun Qin
    •  & Lili Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The functional heterogeneity of autophagy in endothelial cells during angiogenesis remains incompletely understood. Here, the authors apply a 3D angiogenesis-on-a-chip coupled with single-cell RNA sequencing to find distinct autophagy functions in two different endothelial cell populations during angiogenic sprouting.

    • Somin Lee
    • , Hyunkyung Kim
    •  & Noo Li Jeon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Scalability of mechanoporation strategies for intracellular delivery remains challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate a microfluidic approach for delivering mRNA and CRISPR-Cas systems to over 250 million cells per minute.

    • Derin Sevenler
    •  & Mehmet Toner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Generating microfluidic droplets with application-specific desired characteristics is hard. Here the authors report fluid-agnostic machine learning models capable of accurately predicting device geometries and flow conditions required to generate stable single and double emulsions.

    • Ali Lashkaripour
    • , David P. McIntyre
    •  & Polly M. Fordyce

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Geometrical complexities of blood vessels alter biophysical behaviors of circulating tumor cells, influencing cancer metastasis. Here, the authors develop a 3D bioprinted in vitro brain blood vessel-on-a-chip to investigate continuities between vascular geometry and metastatic cancer development.

    • Wonbin Park
    • , Jae-Seong Lee
    •  & Dong-Woo Cho

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Current methods to generate spheroids are associated with low production throughputs, limiting clinical and industrial translation. Here the authors present a clean ultra-high-throughput in-air microfluidic platform for mass production of lumenogenic embryoid bodies and functional cardiospheres.

    • Bas van Loo
    • , Simone A. ten Den
    •  & Jeroen Leijten

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Population level transcriptomics measurements miss bacterial heterogeneity. Here the authors report smRandom-seq, a droplet-based high-throughput single-microbe RNA-seq assay, using random primers for in situ cDNA generation, droplets for single-microbe barcoding, and CRISPR-based rRNA depletion.

    • Ziye Xu
    • , Yuting Wang
    •  & Yongcheng Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The utility of microfluidic devices has been limited by several drawbacks including low resolution, inferior feature fidelity, poor repeatability. Here the authors address these challenges by developing a strategic approach of image guided in-situ maskless lithography to fabricate a variety of microfluidic devices and resolve critical proximity effect and size limitations in rapid prototyping.

    • Ratul Paul
    • , Yuwen Zhao
    •  & Yaling Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Highly efficient generation of platelets in the vasculature. Here, Zhao et al. show that the mouse platelet precursor cell, megakaryocytes, generate physiological numbers of functional platelets when passaged repeatedly through pulmonary vasculature.

    • Xiaojuan Zhao
    • , Dominic Alibhai
    •  & Alastair W. Poole

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The main limitations in NMR techniques are low sensitivity and the requirement for complex instrumentation. Here the authors show that a microfluidic chip with a single untuned planar spiral microcoil, combined with laser-light induced hyperpolarization, allows for multidimensional and heteronuclear Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy on picomole quantities of material.

    • M. Victoria Gomez
    • , Sander Baas
    •  & Aldrik H. Velders

  • Article
    | Open Access

    There are limitations with current protein sensing methods. Here the authors report DigitISA, a digital immunosensor assay based on microchip electrophoretic separation and single-molecule detection that enables quantitation of protein biomarkers in a single, solution-phase step.

    • Georg Krainer
    • , Kadi L. Saar
    •  & Tuomas P. J. Knowles

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Extrusion bioprinting can be used to produce living materials but controlling cell microenvironments is challenging. Here, the authors use a type of core-shell microgel ink that decouples cell culture from material processing to produce functional materials with a range of potential applications.

    • Yangteng Ou
    • , Shixiang Cao
    •  & Tuomas P. J. Knowles

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Liposomes are widely used in pharmaceuticals yet trade-offs between uniform size and mass production, limit production and application. Here, the authors report on the design of a microfluidic vortex focusing microfluidic technique which can mass produce liposomes with controlled size and low variability.

    • Jung Yeon Han
    • , Joseph N. La Fiandra
    •  & Don L. DeVoe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single molecule force spectroscopy methods are often low throughput and have high instrument cost. Here the authors report FLO-Chip, a low-cost, high throughput technique using microfluidics for multiplexed mechanical manipulation of many individual molecules via molecular fluid loading on-a-chip.

    • Ehsan Akbari
    • , Melika Shahhosseini
    •  & Carlos E. Castro

  • Perspective
    | Open Access

    Acoustic techniques are moving towards the clinic. Here the authors highlight recent developments in the areas of acoustic mechanobiology, point-of-care diagnostics, in vivo manipulation and tissues engineering, and provide their thoughts on the current challenges and directions for future work.

    • Joseph Rufo
    • , Peiran Zhang
    •  & Tony Jun Huang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metastatic CTC clusters remain relatively unexplored due to the lack of optimized and practical technologies for their detection. Here the authors report Cluster-Wells to isolate CTC clusters in whole blood; they show this allows viable cluster retrieval for further molecular and functional analysis.

    • Mert Boya
    • , Tevhide Ozkaya-Ahmadov
    •  & A. Fatih Sarioglu

  • Perspective
    | Open Access

    Building small-scale tools for biology research eliminates the need for time-consuming methods and enables novel experimental paradigms. Here, the authors discuss microfluidics' potential for manipulating or stimulating model organisms and identify barriers to making these tools accessible.

    • Nolan Frey
    • , Utku M. Sönmez
    •  & Philip LeDuc

  • Perspective
    | Open Access

    Precision oncology is important for patient treatment. Here the authors review the current applications of microfluidic systems to cancer precision medicine, and discuss the issues that must be addressed prior to getting these technologies into the clinic.

    • Jose M. Ayuso
    • , María Virumbrales-Muñoz
    •  & David J. Beebe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tracking of nanoparticle dynamics in solution often require labelling. Here, the authors use a high-finesse microcavity and simultaneously measure dispersive frequency shifts of three transverse modes, demonstrating 3D tracking of unlabelled single nanospheres, and quantitatively determine their physical properties.

    • Larissa Kohler
    • , Matthias Mader
    •  & David Hunger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Brain organoids derived from human pluripotent stem cells can model human brain development and disease, though current culture systems fail to ensure reliable production of high-quality organoids. Here the authors combine human brain extracellular matrix and culture in a microfluidic device to promote structural and functional maturation of human brain organoids.

    • Ann-Na Cho
    • , Yoonhee Jin
    •  & Seung-Woo Cho

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Precise and dynamic manipulation of nano-objects on a large scale has been challenging. Here, the authors introduce acoustoelectronic nanotweezers, combining precision of electronic tweezers with large-field dynamic control of acoustic tweezers, demonstrating complex patterning of sub-100 nm objects.

    • Peiran Zhang
    • , Joseph Rufo
    •  & Tony Jun Huang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The effect of fallopian tube’s curvature on sperm motion has not been studied in detail. Here, the authors use droplet microfluidics to create soft curved interfaces, revealing a dynamic switch in sperm motility from a progressive surface-aligned mode at low curvatures, to an aggressive surface-attacking mode at high curvatures.

    • Mohammad Reza Raveshi
    • , Melati S. Abdul Halim
    •  & Reza Nosrati

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In-situ methods are important for investigating the local structure and function in molecular nanostructures but such investigations often involve laborious labeling methods that can disrupt behavior or are not fast enough to capture stimuli-responsive phenomena. Here, the authors use X-rays resonant with molecular bonds to demonstrate an in-situ nanoprobe that eliminates the need for labels and enables data collection times within seconds.

    • Terry McAfee
    • , Thomas Ferron
    •  & Brian A. Collins

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A fundamental function of living systems is regenerating essential components. Here the authors design an artificial cell using a minimal transcription-translation system in microfluidic reactors for sustained regeneration of multiple essential proteins.

    • Barbora Lavickova
    • , Nadanai Laohakunakorn
    •  & Sebastian J. Maerkl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multi-Omic approaches are a powerful way for obtaining in-depth understanding of a cell’s state. Here the authors present DISCO, combining digital microfluidics, laser cell lysis, and artificial intelligence-driven image processing to analyze single-cell genomes, transcriptomes and proteomes in a mixed population.

    • Julian Lamanna
    • , Erica Y. Scott
    •  & Aaron R. Wheeler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    There is an urgent need to develop simple and fast antimicrobial susceptibility tests. Here, Spencer et al. describe a label-free test that can deliver results within an hour, consisting of a 30-min antibiotic treatment followed by single-cell analysis of phenotypic responses with microfluidic impedance cytometry.

    • Daniel C. Spencer
    • , Teagan F. Paton
    •  & Hywel Morgan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Due to the pulsed nature of X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) instruments the majority of protein crystals, which are injected using continuous jet injection techniques are wasted. Here, the authors present a microfluidic device to deliver aqueous protein crystal laden droplets segmented with an immiscible oil and demonstrate that with this device an approx. 60% reduction in sample waste was achieved for data collection of 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonate 8-phosphate synthase crystals at the EuXFEL.

    • Austin Echelmeier
    • , Jorvani Cruz Villarreal
    •  & Alexandra Ros

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are present in circulation at relatively early stages of disease, providing potential opportunities for early cancer diagnosis. Here, the authors report a covalent chemistry-based hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-specific EV purification system for early detection of HCC by performing digital scoring on the purified EVs.

    • Na Sun
    • , Yi-Te Lee
    •  & Yazhen Zhu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Imaging mass spectrometry is a powerful emerging tool for mapping the spatial distribution of biomolecules across tissue surfaces. Here the authors showcase an automated technology for deep proteome imaging that utilizes ultrasensitive microfluidics and a mass spectrometry workflow to analyze tissue voxels, generating quantitative cell-type-specific images.

    • Paul D. Piehowski
    • , Ying Zhu
    •  & Kristin E. Burnum-Johnson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The understanding of liquid-liquid phase separation is crucial to cell biology and benefits from cell-mimicking in vitro assays. Here, the authors develop a microfluidic platform to study coacervate formation inside liposomes and show the potential of these hybrid systems to create synthetic cells.

    • Siddharth Deshpande
    • , Frank Brandenburg
    •  & Cees Dekker

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Microfluidic multipoles use arrays of sources and sinks to confine fluids and reagents without the use of physical channels. Here the authors use conformal mappings to predict both convective and diffusive transport in these flows and 3D print multipoles to automate surface-based immunoassays.

    • Pierre-Alexandre Goyette
    • , Étienne Boulais
    •  & Thomas Gervais

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Affinity purification-mass spectrometry (AP-MS) can identify endogenous protein interactions but the need for high amounts of input material still limits its applicability. Here, the authors present a microfluidic-based AP-MS workflow that can capture protein interactions from 50─100-fold less input material than conventional approaches.

    • Cristina Furlan
    • , René A. M. Dirks
    •  & Michiel Vermeulen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Platelet aggregates generate contractile forces that contribute to their cohesion and adhesion. Here, Ting et al. develop a microfluidic device to measure contractile forces generated by platelet aggregates, and find it can detect the response of platelets to pharmacological agents and predict bleeding risk in trauma patients.

    • Lucas H. Ting
    • , Shirin Feghhi
    •  & Nathan J. Sniadecki

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