Journal: Advanced Healthcare Materials

Article Title: Environmentally Controlled Microfluidic System Enabling Immune Cell Flow and Activation in an Endothelialised Skin‐On‐Chip

doi: 10.1002/adhm.202400750

Figure Lengend Snippet: Schematic diagram of the microfluidic multi‐well adaptor (MMA) construct. A) Main manifold connecting (a2) external fluidic routing tubes for medium perfusion and allowing light transmission through (a1) the traversing round apertures. B) Biocompatible double‐side adhesive tape layer (142 µm‐thick) with through holes allowing (b2) fluidic routing and (b1) light transmission from (A) to (C). C) High transparency and auto‐fluorescence‐free (188 µm‐thick) COP layer with through holes allowing fluidic routing (c2) from (B) to (D). D) Biocompatible double‐side adhesive tape layer (142 µm‐thick) with patterned microfluidic channels (500 µm‐wide) allowing fluidic routing to the manifold (E) and between different wells (d2). (D) contains through holes for light transmission (d1) from (C) to (E). E) Manifold with through holes (e2) and nozzles (e4) allowing fluidic routing from (A) to a standard 6‐well plate (6MWP). Part (E) presents optical apertures (e1) allowing the transmission of light from a microscope to the biological sample once routed through (A), (B), (C), and (D). Part (E) has also assembled toroidal O‐rings (e5) guaranteeing the sealing, while assembled to the 6MWP, of the overall structure to external factors, such as contamination or gas environment. All parts have some extra features (b3, c3, d3, e3) to allow alignment of the multiple layers and to ease the assembling of the MMA.

Article Snippet: A device with microfluidic channels was specifically designed, developed, and constructed based on patented technologies (Cherry Biotech, US11643632B2, FR3094012B1, and EP3712244A1).

Techniques: Construct, Transmission Assay, Adhesive, Fluorescence, Microscopy

Journal: Advanced Healthcare Materials

Article Title: Environmentally Controlled Microfluidic System Enabling Immune Cell Flow and Activation in an Endothelialised Skin‐On‐Chip

doi: 10.1002/adhm.202400750

Figure Lengend Snippet: Assembly of the complete skin‐on‐chip (SoC) microfluidic device and flow characterization during perfusion. A) Expanded view of the MMA‐6MWP assembly including the MMA, the transwell cell culture insert, containing the RhS, and the 6MWP. B) Complete internal fluidic sealed structure of the myeloid cell‐complemented SoC model. The MMA connects three wells in a series. The direction of flow is indicated with dashed arrows. It is designed to maintain a very low volume of media in the entering well of the 6MWP holding circulating immune cells (“immune cell reservoir”). The second well connected to the previous one contains the RhS (“tissue reservoir”) and is designed to allow the flowed medium to contact only the EC layer at the bottom of the transwell insert. The third well works as a medium collector (“collection reservoir”). Excess medium is collected into an Erlenmeyer flask (“collection flask”). At the end of each experiment, the RhS and the flowed media can be recovered by opening the assembly. Created with BioRender.com. C) Modelled WSS at the transwell membrane: when applying a flow of 150 µL min −1 , WSS values range between 2.95 × 10 −4 Pa and 1.63 × 10 −3 Pa, lower than those reported for human blood vessels in literature. D) Modelled Reynolds number at 1 µm under the transwell membrane when applying a 150 µL min −1 flow. Values range between 3.85 × 10 −6 and 2.36 × 10 −5 (laminarity regime under membrane). E) Heating holder of the assembled SoC MMA‐6WMP. F) Cross‐section of the heating holder that shows the MMA‐6MWP‐holder ensemble. A custom‐made polyamide heater integrated into the base of an aluminum plate warms the MMA‐6MWP ensemble, which has been designed to be compatible with real‐time imaging using a Leica DMi8 Inverted stage. G) Temperature calibration of the system was carried out by placing temperature probes (JTs) in three coaxial regions of three different wells near to the transwell membrane. The results allowed to assess H) zonal and I) mean weighted temperature of the culture medium to guarantee appropriate calibration of the temperatures set by the controlling unit.

Article Snippet: A device with microfluidic channels was specifically designed, developed, and constructed based on patented technologies (Cherry Biotech, US11643632B2, FR3094012B1, and EP3712244A1).

Techniques: Cell Culture, Membrane, Imaging

Journal: Advanced Healthcare Materials

Article Title: Environmentally Controlled Microfluidic System Enabling Immune Cell Flow and Activation in an Endothelialised Skin‐On‐Chip

doi: 10.1002/adhm.202400750

Figure Lengend Snippet: Complete MPS platform prototype (CubiX MVP2C) controlling the gaseous environment (percentages of CO , N , and O ), the perfusion (flow rate), and the heating (temperature) of the myeloid cell‐complemented SoC without the need for an external incubator. A detail of the constructed multi‐well microfluidic adaptor (MMA) is presented in the top‐right of the figure. Medium circulates from the pressurized medium bottle to the “collection flask” via the MMA as depicted by the black dashed arrows. The main components of the CubiX‐MMA‐6MWP‐heater system described in Figures and are labeled in white boxes.

Article Snippet: A device with microfluidic channels was specifically designed, developed, and constructed based on patented technologies (Cherry Biotech, US11643632B2, FR3094012B1, and EP3712244A1).

Techniques: Construct, Labeling

Journal: Lab on a chip

Article Title: Miniaturized Devices for Point of Care Molecular Detection of HIV

doi: 10.1039/c6lc01239f

Figure Lengend Snippet: Microfluidic-based nucleic acid extraction of HIV. (A) A multifunctional amplification reactor chip integrated with a nucleic acid isolation membrane for HIV virus detection in saliva. Top inset is a side view of the multifunctional amplification reactor with a flow-through isolation membrane. Reproduced with permission from ref. 55. Copyright 2011 Royal Society of Chemistry. (B) Top: schematic of the immiscible phase filter for wash-free nucleic acid extraction. Bottom: Photograph of immiscible phase filter-based cartridge containing lysis/binding buffer, elution buffer, and a red colored liquid wax. Reproduced with permission from ref. 56. Copyright 2010 Elsevier. (C) Photograph of wax-based IFAST device for nucleic acid extraction. Reproduced with permission from ref. 57. Copyright 2014 Elsevier. (D) A schematic of AirJump operation for high throughput nucleic acid extraction: (1) an elution plate is placed above a sample plate loaded with PMPs. (2) Upon application of a magnet, PMPs-bound nucleic acids “jump” across the air gap and are deposited in the elution plate. Reproduced with permission from ref. 58. Copyright 2016 American Chemical Society.

Article Snippet: The integration of low-cost, microfluidic diagnostic chips with ubiquitous mobile phones to perform HIV diagnostics can greatly improve health monitoring in resource poor settings. fig ft0 fig mode=article f1 fig/graphic|fig/alternatives/graphic mode="anchored" m1 Open in a separate window caption a7 Integrated “sample-to-result” microfluidic devices for molecular diagnosis of HIV. (A) Photograph of the dual-path microfluidic device (Rheonix CARDTM) capable of simultaneously detecting anti-HIV antibody and HIV RNA.

Techniques: Extraction, Amplification, Isolation, Membrane, Virus, Lysis, Binding Assay, High Throughput Screening Assay

Journal: Lab on a chip

Article Title: Miniaturized Devices for Point of Care Molecular Detection of HIV

doi: 10.1039/c6lc01239f

Figure Lengend Snippet: Integrated “sample-to-result” microfluidic devices for molecular diagnosis of HIV. (A) Photograph of the dual-path microfluidic device (Rheonix CARD™) capable of simultaneously detecting anti-HIV antibody and HIV RNA. Reproduced with permission from ref. 22. Copyright 2013 hindawi. (B) Photograph of an integrated nucleic acid PCR cassette containing pre-stored reagents. For better visibility, the various food dyes in pouches represent different pre-stored liquid buffers. Reproduced with permission from ref. 23. Copyright 2010 Springer.

Article Snippet: The integration of low-cost, microfluidic diagnostic chips with ubiquitous mobile phones to perform HIV diagnostics can greatly improve health monitoring in resource poor settings. fig ft0 fig mode=article f1 fig/graphic|fig/alternatives/graphic mode="anchored" m1 Open in a separate window caption a7 Integrated “sample-to-result” microfluidic devices for molecular diagnosis of HIV. (A) Photograph of the dual-path microfluidic device (Rheonix CARDTM) capable of simultaneously detecting anti-HIV antibody and HIV RNA.

Techniques: Biomarker Discovery

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Senotherapeutic peptide reduces skin biological age and improves skin health markers

doi: 10.1101/2020.10.30.362822

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) Lifespan analysis of control and peptide 14-treated worms grown in agar plates. Median lifespan is presented within parenthesis next to group identification. Each line represents the mean of 3 independent pooled experimental replicates of 120 worms per experimental group. (B) Lifespan analysis of control and peptide 14-treated worms grown in microfluidic devices. Median lifespan is presented within parenthesis next to group identification. Each line represents 3 independent experiments of approximately 150 worms per experimental group. (C) Manual analysis of worm movement in liquid media (Thrashing). Thrashing was measured on 45 worms per experimental group, which came from 3 independent experiments. (D) Percentage of highly active worms grown in microfluidic devices. Data refers to 3 independent replicates of 130-150 worms per experimental group. (E) Comparative analysis of the mobility of untreated (control) and peptide 14-treated worms grown in microfluidic devices in different experimental time-points. Dashed line indicates peak worm activity levels in the control group and arrows indicate the shift in highly active worms with peptide 14 treatment, *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; ****p<0.0001, compared to untreated control, according to the Log-rank test.

Article Snippet: MB, AZ, CR, LB, EA, and JC are named as inventors of a patent directed at this invention, which is solely owned by OneSkin, Inc. MB, AZ, CR, EA, and JC are co-founders of OneSkin Inc. SAV and MR are co-founders of the startup company NemaLife Inc. that is commercializing microfluidic devices used in this study and licensed from Texas Tech University.

Techniques: Control, Activity Assay