Lab-on-a-Chip Platforms for Biophysical Studies of Cancer with Single-Cell Resolution

Vasudha C Shukla; Tai-Rong Kuang; Abirami Senthilvelan; Natalia Higuita-Castro; Silvia Duarte-Sanmiguel; Samir N Ghadiali; Daniel Gallego-Perez

doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2018.02.007

Lab-on-a-Chip Platforms for Biophysical Studies of Cancer with Single-Cell Resolution

Trends Biotechnol. 2018 May;36(5):549-561. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2018.02.007. Epub 2018 Mar 17.

Authors

Vasudha C Shukla¹, Tai-Rong Kuang², Abirami Senthilvelan³, Natalia Higuita-Castro⁴, Silvia Duarte-Sanmiguel⁵, Samir N Ghadiali⁶, Daniel Gallego-Perez⁷

Affiliations

¹ Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, College of Medicine and Wexner Medical Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; These authors contributed equally to this work.
² The Key Laboratory of Polymer Processing Engineering of Ministry of Education, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, P.R. China; These authors contributed equally to this work. Electronic address: kuangtr@scut.edu.cn.
³ Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine (Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine), Wexner Medical Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Surgery, Wexner Medical Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
⁵ Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Human Sciences (Human Nutrition), College of Human Ecology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
⁶ Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Internal Medicine (Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine), Wexner Medical Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
⁷ Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Surgery, Wexner Medical Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. Electronic address: gallegoperez.1@osu.edu.

PMID: 29559164
DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2018.02.007

Abstract

Recent cancer research has more strongly emphasized the biophysical aspects of tumor development, progression, and microenvironment. In addition to genetic modifications and mutations in cancer cells, it is now well accepted that the physical properties of cancer cells such as stiffness, electrical impedance, and refractive index vary with tumor progression and can identify a malignant phenotype. Moreover, cancer heterogeneity renders population-based characterization techniques inadequate, as individual cellular features are lost in the average. Hence, platforms for fast and accurate characterization of biophysical properties of cancer cells at the single-cell level are required. Here, we highlight some of the recent advances in the field of cancer biophysics and the development of lab-on-a-chip platforms for single-cell biophysical analyses of cancer cells.

Keywords: cancer biophysics; lab-on-a-chip; single-cell characterization.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Biophysical Phenomena*
Humans
Lab-On-A-Chip Devices*
Neoplasms / pathology*
Neoplasms / physiopathology*
Single-Cell Analysis / instrumentation
Single-Cell Analysis / methods*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding