In situ bio-functionalization and cell adhesion in microfluidic devices

Protein immobilization is of great importance for the development of biosensors, immunoassays and microfluidic devices. In this work, we study the in situ bio-functionalization and cell adhesion in microfluidic channels. A way of covalently linking antibodies on the channel surface while keeping their bio-functionality and its application for efficient cell adhesion were shown. Soft lithography has been used to fabricate simple microfluidic devices and all chemical and biologic materials were injected into microfluidic channels for the in situ bio-functionalization and cell adhesion. Our results show that the established bio-processing protocol significantly enhances the protein immobilization on both glass and poly-dimethylsiloxane surfaces, thereby allowing one to develop a large number of applications. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.