TY - JOUR
T1 - High resolution scanning electron microscopy of cells using dielectrophoresis
AU - Tang, S.-Y.
AU - Zhang, W.
AU - Soffe, R.
AU - Nahavandi, S.
AU - Shukla, R.
AU - Khoshmanesh, K.
PY - 2014/8/4
Y1 - 2014/8/4
N2 - Ultrastructural analysis of cells can reveal valuable information about their morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been widely used to provide high-resolution images from the surface of biological samples. However, samples need to be dehydrated and coated with conductive materials for SEM imaging. Besides, immobilizing non-adherent cells during processing and analysis is challenging and requires complex fixation protocols. In this work, we developed a novel dielectrophoresis based microfluidic platform for interfacing non-adherent cells with high-resolution SEM at low vacuum mode. The system enables rapid immobilization and dehydration of samples without deposition of chemical residues over the cell surface. Moreover, it enables the on-chip chemical stimulation and fixation of immobilized cells with minimum dislodgement. These advantages were demonstrated for comparing the morphological changes of non-budding and budding yeast cells following Lyticase treatment.
AB - Ultrastructural analysis of cells can reveal valuable information about their morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been widely used to provide high-resolution images from the surface of biological samples. However, samples need to be dehydrated and coated with conductive materials for SEM imaging. Besides, immobilizing non-adherent cells during processing and analysis is challenging and requires complex fixation protocols. In this work, we developed a novel dielectrophoresis based microfluidic platform for interfacing non-adherent cells with high-resolution SEM at low vacuum mode. The system enables rapid immobilization and dehydration of samples without deposition of chemical residues over the cell surface. Moreover, it enables the on-chip chemical stimulation and fixation of immobilized cells with minimum dislodgement. These advantages were demonstrated for comparing the morphological changes of non-budding and budding yeast cells following Lyticase treatment.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84905454726&partnerID=MN8TOARS
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0104109
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0104109
M3 - Article
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 9
SP - 1
EP - 8
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 8
M1 - e104109
ER -