Abstract
The hanging-drop network (HDN) is a technology platform based on a completely open microfluidic network at the bottom of an inverted, surface-patterned substrate. The platform is predominantly used for the formation, culturing, and interaction of self-assembled spherical microtissues (spheroids) under precisely controlled flow conditions. Here, we describe design, fabrication, and operation of microfluidic hanging-drop networks.
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References
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Acknowledgments
This work was financially supported by FP7 of the EU through the project “Body on a chip,” ICT-FET-296257, and the ERC Advanced Grant “NeuroCMOS” (contract 267351), as well as by an individual Ambizione Grant 142440 from the Swiss National Science Foundation for Olivier Frey. The research leading to these results also received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA grant agreement no. [291734]. We would like to thank Alexander Stettler, ETH Zurich for his expertise and support in the cleanroom, and we acknowledge the Single Cell Unit of D-BSSE, ETH Zurich for assistance in microscopy issues. M.L. is grateful to the members of the Guet and Tkačik groups, IST Austria, for valuable comments and support.
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Misun, P.M., Birchler, A.K., Lang, M., Hierlemann, A., Frey, O. (2018). Fabrication and Operation of Microfluidic Hanging-Drop Networks. In: Ertl, P., Rothbauer, M. (eds) Cell-Based Microarrays. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1771. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7792-5_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7792-5_15
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