Hiroyuki Kohida

Individual and mass operation of biological cells using micromechanical silicon devices

Abstract A cell fusion technique using micromechanical silicon devices has been developed. It permits several one-to-one fusion operations between two different cell groups to be carried out simultaneously, instead of the conventional collective fusion operation. A matrix array of 1584 microchambers, each containing a single pair of cells, has been fabricated on a 3 inch silicon wafer. Fusion of the paired cells is induced by electric pulses applied between electrodes embedded in the microchambers. In order to feed a pair from two different cell groups to every microchamber, a cell carrier made of a silicon wafer has been developed. The carrier plate has the same numbers of cell absorption ports in the matrix array as the microchambers. A single cell particle is absorbed to and released from the port by applying liquid pressure from the rear side of the plate. The carrier plate is transferred over the microchamber plate and simultaneously releases cells into the microchambers. Repeating this process independently for the cell groups A and B, a single pair of AB is formed in every chamber. It is observed that pairs of lettuce cells are successfully fused in the microchambers.

Development of one-to-one biological cell fusion technique using micromechanical devices.

A cell fusion technique using micromechanical silicon devices has been developed. It permits a number of one-to-one cell fusion operations between two different biological cell groups to be carried out simultaneously, instead of the conventional collective fusion operation. A matrix array of 1584 microchambers, each containing a single pair of cells, have been fabricated on a 3-inch silicon wafer. Fusion of the paired cells is induced by electric pulses applied between electrodes embedded in the microchambers. In order to feed a pair of cells from two different cell groups to every microchamber, a cell carrier made of a silicon wafer has been developed. A single cell particle is absorbed to and released from the port of the carrier plate. The carrier plate is transferred over the microchamber plate and simultaneously releases cells into the microchambers. Repeating this operation independently for the cell groups A and B, a single pair of AB is formed in every microchamber. It is observed that pairs of lettuce cells are successfully fused in the microchambers.