Sorting inactivated cells using cell-imprinted polymer thin films

Kangning REN, Niaz Banaei, Richard N. Zare*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

64 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Previous work showed that cell imprinting in a poly(dimethylsiloxane) film produced artificial receptors to cells by template-assisted rearrangement of functional groups on the surface of the polymer thin film which facilitated cell capture in the polymer surface indentations by size, shape, and, most importantly, chemical recognition. We report here that inactivation of cells by treatment with formaldehyde (4%), glutaraldehyde (2%), or a combination of the two leads to markedly improved capture selectivity (a factor of 3) when cells to be analyzed are inactivated in the same manner. The enhanced capture efficiency compared to living cells results from two factors: (1) rigidification of the cell surface through cross-linking of amine groups by the aldehyde; and (2) elimination of chemicals excreted from living cells which interfere with the fidelity of the cell-imprinting process. Moreover, cell inactivation has the advantage of removing biohazard risks associated with working with virulent bacteria. These results are demonstrated using different strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)6031-6036
Number of pages6
JournalACS Nano
Volume7
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23 Jul 2013

Scopus Subject Areas

  • General Materials Science
  • General Engineering
  • General Physics and Astronomy

User-Defined Keywords

  • cell imprinting
  • cell inactivation
  • cell sorting
  • diagnosis
  • tuberculosis

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