How single-cell immunology is benefiting from microfluidic technologies

Microfluidic single-cell technologies for assaying lymphocyte interactions

Microfluidic based single cell microinjection.

We report a microfluidic based approach for single cell microinjection in which fluid streams direct a cell onto a fixed microneedle in contrast to moving a microneedle towards an immobilized cell, as done in conventional methods. The approach simplifies microinjection and offers the potential for flow through automated microinjection of cells.

Benefiting from negative feedback

This article discusses why it is so hard for people to benefit from negative feedback. We examine factors involved in the effective use of negative feedback. Our analysis suggests that the main obstacles to the effective use of negative feedback stem from the failure to obtain it and the failure to conduct an accurate appraisal of it. This is in contrast to research indicating that the main obs...

Technologies for Single-Cell Isolation

The handling of single cells is of great importance in applications such as cell line development or single-cell analysis, e.g., for cancer research or for emerging diagnostic methods. This review provides an overview of technologies that are currently used or in development to isolate single cells for subsequent single-cell analysis. Data from a dedicated online market survey conducted to iden...

Microfluidic single-cell analysis of intracellular compounds.

Biological analyses traditionally probe cell ensembles in the range of 103-106 cells, thereby completely averaging over relevant individual cell responses, such as differences in cell proliferation, responses to external stimuli or disease onset. In past years, this fact has been realized and increasing interest has evolved for single-cell analytical methods, which could give exciting new insig...