CO2 and compressive immobilization of C. elegans on-chip (original) (raw)

a Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

b Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA

c Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
E-mail: chronis@umich.edu

d Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Abstract

We present two microfluidic approaches for immobilizing the roundworm C . elegans on-chip. The first approach creates a CO2 micro-environment while the second one utilizes a deformable PDMS membrane to mechanically restrict the worm's movement. An on-chip ‘behavior’ module was used to characterize the effect of these methods on the worm's locomotion pattern. Our results indicate that both methods are appropriate for the short-term (minutes) worm immobilization. The CO2 method offers the additional advantages of long-term immobilization (1–2 hours) and reduced photobleaching, if fluorescent imaging during immobilization is required. We envision the use of these methods in a wide variety of biological studies in C . elegans, including cell developmental and neuronal regeneration studies.

Graphical abstract: CO2 and compressive immobilization of C. elegans on-chip

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Article information

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1039/B807345G

Article type

Paper

Submitted

30 Apr 2008

Accepted

02 Sep 2008

First published

21 Oct 2008

Download Citation

Lab Chip, 2009,9, 151-157

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