One cell, one drop, one click: hybrid microfluidic mammalian single-cell isolation

Abstract

The process of generating a stable knockout cell line is a complex process that can take several months to complete. In this work, we introduce a microfluidic method that is capable of isolating single cells, selecting successful edited clones, and expansion of these isoclones. Using a hybrid microfluidics method, droplets in channels can be individually addressed using a co-planar electrode system. In our hybrid microfluidic device, we show that we can trap single cells and subsequently encapsulate them on demand into pL-sized droplets. Furthermore, individual cells inside the droplet can be released from the traps or merged with other droplets by simply applying an electric potential to the electrodes that is actuated through a user interface. We use this high precision control to sort and to recover single isoclones to establish monoclonal cell lines, which is demonstrated with a heterozygous NCI-H1299 lung squamous cell population resulting from loss-of-function eGFP and RAF1 gene knock-out transfections.