Microfabricated platforms to quantitatively investigate cellular behavior under the influence of chemical gradients

Understanding cellular behavior in a quantitative manner will provide valuable information to reveal the mechanism of diseases and immune defense and for the discovery of new drugs and new treatment strategies. Today one of the biggest limitations is the traditional methods and tools that we use to investigate cellular behavior. Since conventional techniques are not adequate enough to be selective, specific and precise, rare cells such as metastatic or drug-resistant ones or events such as the onset symptoms of tumors or infections are masked by the majority of cells or events in the population. As a consequence, our diagnosis or treatment approaches might not target the right cells at the right time in the right microenvironment. Therefore, missed and delayed diagnosis or the wrong treatment strategies emerge. To overcome these limitations, microfabricated tools in conjunction with live-cell imaging provide quantitative, accurate, reproducible and repeatable information at single-cell resolution related to the behavior of rare cells in their natural microenvironments. Moreover, these modern methods reduce assay time, sample consumption and waste production, while improving sensitivity, throughput and precision. Herein, we present an integrated microfabricated microfluidic platform for cell culture and drug exposure investigations.