A Microfluidic 3D Cell Culture System for Drug Discovery Studies

Abstract

In this paper, a microfluidic platform with bottom and upper microchannels separated by a polycarbonate membrane is studied for three-dimensional cell culture applications. Microfluidic chips were designed and fabricated using standard soft lithography and micromolding methods. The effect of surface modification by NaOH of polycarbonate membranes on the cell viability was investigated. Mouse fibroblast cells were cultured on modified and non-modified membrane integrated microfluidic chips. On 2nd, 3rd and 4th day of cultivation, cell concentrations were recorded and it was found that the cell concentration on modified membranes was always higher at all time intervals, and after four days, the cell concentration on the modified membrane was about 55 % higher than that of unmodified case.