Microbioassay system for an anti-cancer agent test using animal cells on a microfluidic gradient mixer.
We developed a novel microbioassay system equipped with a gradient mixer of two solutions, and we applied the microfluidic system to an anti-cancer agent test using living animal cells on a microchip. A microchannel for the gradient mixing of two solutions and eight other microchannels for cell assay were fabricated on a poly(dimethylsiloxane) substrate using a soft-lithography method. The functions necessary for this bioassay, i.e., cell culturing, chemical stimulation, cell staining, and fluorescence determination, were integrated into the microfluidic chip. Eight gradient concentrations of the fluorescein solution, ranging from 1 to 98 microg/ml, were archived at 0.1 microl/min on a microchip. A stomach cancer cell line was cultured, and a cell viability assay was conducted using 5-Fluorouracil as an anti-cancer agent on the microchip. Cell viability changed according to the estimated concentration of the agent solution. With the microbioassay system, an anti-cancer agent test was conducted using living cells simultaneously in eight individual channels with the gradient concentration of the agent on a microchip.