Well plate microfluidic system for investigation of dynamic platelet behavior under variable shear loads.

The study of platelet behavior in real-time under controlled shear stress offers insights into the underlying mechanisms of many vascular diseases and enables evaluation of platelet-focused therapeutics. The two most common methods used to study platelet behavior at the vessel wall under uniform shear flow are parallel plate flow chambers and cone-plate viscometers. Typically, these methods are difficult to use, lack experimental flexibility, provide low data content, are low in throughput, and require large reagent volumes.

Using well-plate microfluidic devices to conduct shear-based thrombosis assays.

Shear stress plays a critical role in regulating platelet adhesion and thrombus formation at the site of vascular injury. As such, platelets are often examined in vitro under controlled shear flow conditions for their hemostatic and thrombotic functions. Common shear-based platelet analyses include the evaluation of genetic mutants, inhibitory or experimental compounds, matrix substrates, and the effects of different physiological and pathological shear forces.

New device for high-throughput viability screening of flow biofilms.

Control of biofilms requires rapid methods to identify compounds effective against them and to isolate resistance-compromised mutants for identifying genes involved in enhanced biofilm resistance. While rapid screening methods for microtiter plate well ("static") biofilms are available, there are no methods for such screening of continuous flow biofilms ("flow biofilms"). Since the latter biofilms more closely approximate natural biofilms, development of a high-throughput (HTP) method for screening them is desirable.

Well plate-coupled microfluidic devices designed for facile image-based cell adhesion and transmigration assays.

Microfluidic devices have become invaluable tools in recent years to model biological phenomena. Here, the authors present a well plate microfluidic (WPM) device for conducting cell biology assays under shear flow. Physiological shear flow conditions of cell-cell and cell-ligand adhesion within this device produce results with higher biological significance than conventional well plates.

Platelet adhesion and aggregation under flow using microfluidic flow cells.

Platelet aggregation occurs in response to vascular injury where the extracellular matrix below the endothelium has been exposed. The platelet adhesion cascade takes place in the presence of shear flow, a factor not accounted for in conventional (static) well-plate assays. This article reports on a platelet-aggregation assay utilizing a microfluidic well-plate format to emulate physiological shear flow conditions.

Chlamydia attachment to mammalian cells requires protein disulfide isomerase.

For Chlamydia, an intracellular pathogen of humans, host cell invasion is obligatory for survival, growth and pathogenesis. At the molecular level, little is known about the binding and entry of Chlamydia into the mammalian host cell. Chlamydia are genetically intractable therefore experimental approaches targeting the host are often necessary.