Automated Embryonic Body Culture System by using Membrane Micromachining

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25600054
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Nano/Microsystems
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: IKEUCHI Masashi 東京大学, 先端科学技術研究センター, 助教 (90377820)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): MIYAMOTO Yoshitaka 独立行政法人国立成育医療研究センター, 生殖・細胞医療研究部, 研究員 (20425705)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 胚様体 / 再生医療 / PASCL / 圧力駆動 / 自動培養

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We have proposed and developed a “Pneumatically Actuated Spheroids Culture Chip (PASCL)”. PASCL has the ability to produce and culture EBs of defined size highly in parallel, and has a unique mechanism to collect a targeted EB selectively from the arrays of EBs. In detail, PASCL consists of three parts; top layer with fluid channels, a PDMS membrane and bottom layer with pneumatic actuation lines. The pneumatic actuation lines have square openings on the topside. By applying negative pressure in the pneumatic actuation lines, the PDMS membrane set between the top and the bottom layer is pulled into the openings to form concave microwells where EBs are produced. After EB formation and differentiation, a targeted EB is popped up into the fluid channel by applying atmos-pheric pressure in the pneumatic actuation line, and collected by flow. The prototype has microwells arrayed 10x10 in 1 cm2. By using human iPS, EB formation, differentiation and sorting were verified.

Free Research Field

医用マイクロ・ナノマシン