Earticle

Cellular responses to external signals have been mostly investigated by conventional methods that measure average outcomes for a population of cells. That methods are limited in their throughput, resolution (in space, time, and tracking individual cells instead of population average). To address these problem, high resolution live cell images is increasingly used to detect cellular dynamics in response to drugs and chemicals. But monitoring the real-time behavior of arrays of single cells is only achieved with much experimental difficulty due to the small size. It depends on complex and expensive liquid handling devices that have limited its wider adoption. Extracting single-cell information during cellular responses to external signals in a high-throughput manner is an essential step for quantitative single-cell analyses. Here, we have developed a simple microfluidic platform of trapping single cells in spatially well-defined locations. The device exploits hydrodynamics to trap cells flowing near a narrow aperture. Trap Efficiency were tested by imaging and quantitative analysis. we demonstrate the ease of this method for monitoring multiple single cells over a time course. The simplicity of the design, inexpensive materials make it a device for systems biology experiment.