Cell patterning has been widely used in research on fundamental cell biology and in applications such as tissue engineering, neuron network formation, cell based biosensor and drug screening. Although various methods have been developed, cell patterning in an enclosed microfluidic device at single cell level remains challenging. This paper describes a microfluidic device with microwells and protein patterns paired together in a single microchannel for an easy cell patterning. Cells captured in the microwells were positioned directly onto the protein patterns within 5 min and the patterning performance was successfully demonstrated using HeLa cells and human gallbladder carcinoma cells (SGC-996). Cells survived for 6 days in the microchannel. Cell attachment, migration, proliferation and cell colony formation were observed. Our device is free of topographic constraint for the patterned cells and no complex chemical modification to the substrate is needed, offering a simple, fast, and easy-to-operate way of patterning cells at single cell level in an enclosed microfluidic channel.

The olfactory bulb is an important structure in olfactory information processing. Exploring electrophysiological characteristics of dissected olfactory bulb neuron in vitro is helpful to improving the understanding of the mechanism of the olfactory information processing. In this work, a novel neural chip was developed based on the combination of the microelectrode array and patterned microstructures with the advantages of controllable growth of neurons and long time potential recording. Topographical patterning was used to define position of neuron soma and to guide the neurite outgrowth. A cell culture device with micro wells and micro trenches was fabricated in polydimethylsiloxane using soft lithography. The olfactory bulb neurons were cultured on the cell culture device. At day 8 of the in vitro culture, the device with patterned neuronal network was put upside down on the top surface of a commercially available microelectrode array chip. The micro wells were aligned letting neurons sit on the electrodes. Spike signals of neurons were recorded when the neuronal network was subjected to 1 mMglutamate stimuli. This convenient method by which the olfactory bulb neural chip was fabricated is feasible for extracellular potential recording of patterned neurons, and may be useful in the further studies of olfactory information processing.