Creating wounds in cell monolayers using micro-jets

Abstract

Many wound-healing assays are used in cell biology and biomedicine; they are often labor intensive and/or require specialized and costly equipment. We describe a contactless method to create wounds with any imaginable 2D pattern in cell monolayers using micro-jets of either media or an immiscible and biocompatible fluorocarbon (i.e., FC40). We also combine this with another method that allows automation and multiplexing using standard Petri dishes. A dish is filled with a thin film of media overlaid with FC40, and the two liquids reshaped into an array of microchambers in minutes. Each chamber in such a grid is isolated from others by fluid walls of FC40. Cells are now added, allowed to grow into a monolayer, and wounds created using the microjets; then, healing is monitored by microscopy. As arrays of chambers can be made using the media and Petri dishes familiar to biologists, and as dishes fit seamlessly into their incubators, microscopes, and workflows, we anticipate this assay will find wide application in biomedicine.