Cell culture in 3-dimensional microfluidic structure of PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane)

In this paper, a device with 3-dimensional microfluidic structure composed of two stacked layers of PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) is fabricated for mammalian cell culture. This microdevice is tested with Hepatocarcinoma liver cells (Hep G2 cells). The purpose of this study is to understand to what extent cell culture in a PDMS microdevice is available. The experimental protocols for Hep G2 cell culture in the microdevice, such as sterilization steps, collagen pre-coating, etc. have been investigated and established. The oxygen supply could be achieved thanks to the high gas permeability of the PDMS material without any external oxygen supplying system. The cells could be kept in good condition for several days with the present set-up as far as the culture medium is periodically changed. Morphological observations of the cells have shown that they could successfully attach, spread and grow until they reached the confluence over the microfluidic structure. By measuring the glucose consumption and albumin production, the activity of the cells was monitored, and those values had increased gradually along the term of the culture. Those encouraging results illustrate the good cell response to the microfluidic structure, in other words, the culture environment made of PDMS material. In future work, this culture system will be extended to non-cancerous liver cells like normal hepatocytes or endothelial cells.