Abstract：
Adhesion of single cells is the foundation of manifold cellular behaviors and life processes. However, investigating the function of a specific cell is still challenging due to deficiency of adhesion or interference from surrounding cells. Herein, an open microfluidic system is reported for culturing adherent single cells, implemented by a micrometer-scale droplet matrix on an inkjet-printed polylysine template. The target cells are isolated from any cell from other droplets, and their adhesion strength is determined to be comparable to conventional petri dishes via an in-situ investigation with a microfluidic extractor. On this proposed platform, isolated single cells are observed to display an entirely distinct spreading behavior featuring total absence of elongation, indicating drastic cell behavior change from their \"singleness.\" This system has high versatility and compatibility for various assaying methods, assuring a promising potential in detailed single cell behavior and cell heterogeneity studies.
摘要：
单细胞的粘附是多种细胞行为和生命过程的基础。然而,由于周围细胞的粘附或干扰不足，研究特定细胞的功能仍然具有挑战性。在这里，据报道，一种开放的微流体系统用于培养粘附的单细胞，通过在喷墨打印的聚赖氨酸模板上的微米级液滴基质来实现。靶细胞与来自其他液滴的任何细胞分离，并且通过使用微流体提取器的原位研究确定它们的粘附强度与传统的培养皿相当。在这个拟议的平台上，观察到分离的单细胞显示出完全不同的扩散行为，其特征是完全没有伸长，表明细胞行为从它们的“单一性”发生了剧烈的变化。\"该系统对各种分析方法具有很高的通用性和兼容性，在详细的单细胞行为和细胞异质性研究中确保有希望的潜力。
