A Novel Wick-Like Paper-Based Microfluidic Device for 3D Cell Culture and Anti-Cancer Drugs Screening

Paper is increasingly recognized as a portable substrate for cell culture, due to its low-cost, flexible, and special porous property, which provides a native cellular 3D microenvironment. Therefore, paper-based microfluidics has been developed for cell culture and biomedical analysis. However, the inability of continuous medium supply limits the wide application of paper devices for cell culture. Herein, a paper-based microfluidic device is developed with novel folded paper strips as wick-like structure, which is used for medium self-driven perfusion. The paper with patterns of hydrophilic channel, culture areas, and hydrophobic barrier could be easily fabricated through wax-printing. After printing, the hydrophilic paper strip at the periphery of the lower layer is then folded at 90 degrees and extended into the medium container for continuous automatic supply of medium to the cell culture area. Tumor cells cultured in the paper device are tested for anti-cancer drug screening. Visualized cell viability and chemical sensitivity testing can be achieved by colorimetry combined with simple smartphone imaging, effectively reducing precision instrument dependence. The wick paper-based microfluidic device for cell culture endows the method the advantages of lower cost, ease-of-operation, miniaturization, and shows a great potential for large-scale cell culture, antibody drug production, and efficient screening.

Automated summary

The paper-based microfluidic device with novel folded paper strips as wick-like structure enables medium self-driven perfusion, showing advantages of convenience, low cost, and ease of operation. By printing hydrophobic channels, culture areas, and barriers on paper, it allows for cell culture and anti-cancer drug screening.