(11-13) MEMS sensor arrays (6, 14, 15) potentially provide a unique advantage for measuring the growth of neurons, if neurons can be isolated from the heterogeneous population. For over a century, numerous culture devices and methods have provided ideal microenvironments to glean insights into neuronal development. The process of generating primary, postmitotic neurons in culture yields a highly mixed cellular population, which presents additional challenges for single-cell studies. While cell lines are the population of choice for many cell biology studies, tissue-derived (primary source) cultures are a mainstay for postmitotic cell populations. Using an independent measurement of cell volume, we find cell density to be approximately 1.15 g/mL.
Cell mass measurements of primary mouse hippocampal neurons in vitro, in the range of 0.1–0.9 ng, demonstrate the ability to investigate neuronal mass and changes in mass over time. Overall, the improved sensor increases capture by 100% at a flow rate of 2 μL/min, as characterized through microbead experiments, while maintaining measurement accuracy. This paper presents a MEMS resonant pedestal sensor array fabricated over through-wafer pores compatible with vertical flow fields to increase measurement versatility (e.g., fluidic manipulation and throughput) and allow for the measurement of heterogeneous cell populations. Population heterogeneity, as is generally encountered in primary cultures, reduces measurement yield and limits the efficacy of sensor mass measurements.
These sensors enable the investigation of cellular mass and growth, though previous sensor designs have been limited to the study of homogeneous cell populations. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) resonant sensors provide a high degree of accuracy for measuring the physical properties of chemical and biological samples.
0 kommentar(er)
