Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Yang Zhou, Zhibin Yu, Man Wu, Yuwei Lan, Chunping Jia, Jianlong Zhao
Summary: Single-cell analysis and sorting is an important technique in scientific research and industry. This study developed a microfluidic chip that integrates single-cell droplet generation, incubation, and sorting functions using a pneumatic micro-valve. Numerical simulations were used to optimize the design of the valve. Experimental results demonstrated that the integrated chip improved the purity of target droplets and reduced cell loss and labor. This design has various applications such as single-cell sequencing and antibody screening.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Lukas Menze, Pedro A. Duarte, Lacey Haddon, Michael Chu, Jie Chen
Summary: In this paper, a microfluidic platform is introduced to overcome the limitation of cell sorters and achieve selective single-cell sorting by capturing a large number of different cell types. The platform demonstrates high accuracy, versatility, and simplicity, making it suitable for reliable sorting of varying complex samples in clinical environments.
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Can Huang, Yuqian Jiang, Yuwen Li, Han Zhang
Summary: Since its invention, droplet microfluidic technologies have been widely used for high-throughput chemical and biological functional screening applications, and have undergone significant improvement and study. Each droplet serves as an individual bioreactor, enabling the screening of millions of droplets individually based on specific requirements. This paper reviews the current methods for droplet detection and active sorting in microfluidic systems, providing an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each technology, and concludes with future development prospects.
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Yating Pan, Wenjian Cao, Ying Mu, Qiangyuan Zhu
Summary: This article introduces the development history and important technical factors of scRNA-seq, focusing on the role of microfluidics in facilitating the development of scRNA-seq technology. The future directions for scRNA-seq are also discussed.
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Yangteng Ou, Shixiang Cao, Jing Zhang, Weiliang Dong, Zhugen Yang, Ziyi Yu
Summary: The combination of wastewater-based epidemiology and droplet microfluidics is an effective method for monitoring public health, but requires more advanced analytical platforms. Research focuses on quantifying pathogen biomarkers in droplets, single-cell analysis in droplets, and the use of living cell biosensors in droplets.
TRAC-TRENDS IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Jianwei Zhong, Minhui Liang, Qiang Tang, Ye Ai
Summary: By introducing a label-free selectable cell quantity encapsulation in droplets sorting system, the purity and throughput of single-cell droplets can be improved. This system combines electrical impedance based screening with biocompatible acoustic sorting to achieve high efficiency and throughput while removing multi-cells and empty droplets.
MATERIALS TODAY BIO
(2023)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
David Conchouso, Amani Al-Ma'abadi, Hayedeh Behzad, Mohammed Alarawi, Masahito Hosokawa, Yohei Nishikawa, Haruko Takeyama, Katsuhiko Mineta, Takashi Gojobori
Summary: In this study, three droplet-based microfluidic technologies were integrated into the metagenomic pipeline to enable high-throughput functional screening of bioproducts. By encapsulating single cells, integrating fluorescence-exciting lasers, and incorporating a passive droplet merger, researchers can quickly utilize microfluidic technologies for single-cell resolution and high-throughput capability (> 50,000 cells/day) in mining and bioprospecting metagenomic data.
GENOMICS PROTEOMICS & BIOINFORMATICS
(2021)
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Zhenqi Jiang, Haoran Shi, Xiaoying Tang, Jieling Qin
Summary: Single-cell manipulation and analysis is crucial for studying biological processes and cellular heterogeneity. Droplet microfluidics has revolutionized single-cell studies by allowing extraction of information at the genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic level from individual cells. It provides a detailed understanding of intracellular heterogeneity and changes in cellular phenotype. This review summarizes the advances of droplet microfluidics in single-cell analysis, emphasizing its advantages, preparation, and various assays. It also highlights its application in studying gene expression and other biomolecules at the single-cell level, facilitating fundamental and clinical research.
TRAC-TRENDS IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Yu Wang, Dong-Fei Wang, Hui-Feng Wang, Jian-Wei Wang, Jian-Zhang Pan, Xiao-Gang Guo, Qun Fang
Summary: This study developed a microfluidic robot platform for sorting rare target cells from complex clinical blood samples, achieving high efficiency and purity through a novel multi-step sorting strategy. The platform automates the identification, capture, and droplet generation of rare cells, demonstrating the feasibility and potential application in the sorting and analysis of specific rare cells like circulating endothelial progenitor cells (CEPCs) in human blood.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Mun Hong Loo, Yuta Nakagawa, Soo Hyeon Kim, Akihiro Isozaki, Keisuke Goda
Summary: Droplet microfluidics is a powerful tool for diverse applications in biomedical and industrial fields, with increasing interest in extending droplet sorting to larger droplets. However, limited sorting throughputs of large droplets have hindered their widespread adoption.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Akihiro Isozaki, Dunhou Huang, Yuta Nakagawa, Keisuke Goda
Summary: Droplet microfluidics is a powerful tool for various applications, with on-chip multiplexed droplet sorting allowing real-time and high-throughput sorting of cells with different phenotypes. The use of sequentially addressable dielectrophoretic arrays enables efficient and scalable droplet sorting.
MICROFLUIDICS AND NANOFLUIDICS
(2021)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
B. M. Tiemeijer, J. Tel
Summary: Single-cell techniques, especially microfluidics and microgel technology, are playing an increasingly important role in cell biological research. This review provides a comprehensive overview of how different types of hydrogels can be incorporated into droplet-based methods, offering novel and reliable analytic and screening applications in cell biology research.
FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Claudia Zielke, Adriana J. Gutierrez Ramirez, Kelsey Voss, Maya S. Ryan, Azam Gholizadeh, Jeffrey C. Rathmell, Paul Abbyad
Summary: This study presents a label-free, fixation-free and passive sorting method to isolate activated T-cells shortly after activation and prior to the display of activation surface markers. The method uses a sorting platform called Sorting by Interfacial Tension (SIFT) based on pH. It successfully isolates and enriches activated T-cells on chip, and allows for the testing of T-cell activation modulators and the determination of differentiation outcomes.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Justin L. Madrigal, Nathan G. Schoepp, Linfeng Xu, Codian S. Powell, Cyrille L. Delley, Christian A. Siltanen, Jay Danao, Maithreyan Srinivasan, Russell H. Cole, Adam R. Abate
Summary: Cell-cell interactions play a crucial role in biological systems, but current methods for studying these interactions are limited in scalability. This study presents a novel approach for cell interaction profiling using high-throughput droplet microfluidics, allowing for accurate grouping and characterization of cell interactions on a large scale.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Mechanics
He Yang, Yufan Xu, Tuomas Knowles
Summary: Droplet-based microfluidics has extensive applications and asymmetrical microfluidic junctions are studied for controlling and organizing droplets with different sizes. This research investigates the effect of junction angle on droplet behavior and finds that droplets can either break up or remain intact in asymmetric junctions. The volume of daughter droplets and the sorting of droplets are influenced by the junction angle and initial tip-to-tip length of the droplet. The study proposes a scaling model to predict the transition between droplet breakup and non-breakup in asymmetric junctions and provides a phase diagram of droplet behavior. Overall, the research is important for understanding and controlling droplet behavior in microfluidic systems.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MECHANICS B-FLUIDS
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Xiaowei Zheng, Wang Liu, Xin Dai, Yaxin Zhu, Jinfeng Wang, Yongqiang Zhu, Huajun Zheng, Ying Huang, Zhiyang Dong, Wenbin Du, Fangqing Zhao, Li Huang
Summary: Research on viral diversity in deep-sea sediments of Southwest Indian Ocean revealed a large number of unclassified viral groups, with most contigs belonging to dsDNA viruses in the order Caudovirales that primarily infect Proteobacteria. Auxiliary metabolic genes on viral contigs play a crucial role in modulating host responses to environmental changes and nutrient metabolism.
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Chu-Jin Ruan, Jian Wang, Xiao-Wei Zheng, Lei Song, Ya-Xin Zhu, Ying Huang, Zu-Jun Lu, Wen-Bin Du, Li Huang, Xin Dai
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC AND EVOLUTIONARY MICROBIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yinglu Cui, Yanchun Chen, Xinyue Liu, Saijun Dong, Yu'e Tian, Yuxin Qiao, Ruchira Mitra, Jing Han, Chunli Li, Xu Han, Weidong Liu, Quan Chen, Wangqing Wei, Xin Wang, Wenbin Du, Shuangyan Tang, Hua Xiang, Haiyan Liu, Yong Liang, Kendall N. Houk, Bian Wu
Summary: This study successfully improved the robustness of PETase through a computational strategy, resulting in the redesign of a variant DuraPETase with significantly elevated melting temperature and enhanced degradation of PET films, as well as complete biodegradation of microplastics at mild temperatures. The design strategy presents opportunities for handling uncollectable PET waste and converting resulting monomers into high-value molecules.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Beiyu Hu, Shun Ye, Dongwei Chen, Bingliang Xie, Ran Hu, Yuxin Qiao, Yanghuan Yu, Haiyan Yu, Xu Zheng, Ying Lan, Wenbin Du
Summary: Conventional picoinjectors face difficulties in eliminating cross-contamination between droplets, while stepinjection effectively increases the pressure difference by elevating the diffusional buffer zone into the main channel, successfully avoiding cross-contamination and enabling widespread use in contamination-sensitive enzymatic assays.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Juanli Yun, Andrew T. Crombie, Muhammad Farhan Ul Haque, Yuanfeng Cai, Xiaowei Zheng, Jian Wang, Zhongjun Jia, J. Colin Murrell, Yanfen Wang, Wenbin Du
Summary: Research on the Zoige wetland of the Tibetan Plateau found that type I methanotrophs of gammaproteobacteria play a key role in methane oxidation. Additionally, two phylogenetically novel methanotroph MAGs distantly related to extant Methylobacter and Methylovulum were recovered, participating in methane oxidation via H4MPT and RuMP pathways. The study highlights the importance of methanotrophs in suppressing methane emission in the wetland under the scenario of global warming.
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Shun Ye, Caiming Li, Xu Zheng, Weihang Huang, Yi Tao, Yanghuan Yu, Limin Yang, Ying Lan, Liang Ma, Shengtai Bian, Wenbin Du
Summary: This paper describes a versatile chip-free droplet generator, OsciDrop, which can produce size-tunable droplets on demand by oscillating its distal end. The study reveals a previously underexplored regime that leverages inertial force to generate droplets. The method has been successfully applied in nucleic acid amplification tests and shows great potential in digital molecular diagnostics.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Yuxin Qiao, Ran Hu, Dongwei Chen, Li Wang, Zhiyi Wang, Haiyan Yu, Ye Fu, Chunli Li, Zhiyang Dong, Yun-Xuan Weng, Wenbin Du
Summary: A high-throughput screening pipeline was developed to identify PET-degrading microorganisms or enzymes, successfully isolating species capable of degrading PET from environmental samples and genetically deriving and validating two putative PETases. The FADS pipeline shows promise for discovering new plastic-degrading microorganisms and enzymes, potentially aiding in the directed evolution of degrading enzymes through synthetic biology.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Haichao Feng, Yu Lv, Tino Krell, Ruixin Fu, Yunpeng Liu, Zhihui Xu, Wenbin Du, Qirong Shen, Nan Zhang, Ruifu Zhang
Summary: Bacteria have evolved multiple signal transduction systems to adapt to changing environmental conditions. The chemoreceptor McpA of Bacillus velezensis SQR9 has been found to directly bind to 13 chemoattractants. Structural biology studies and mutagenesis experiments have identified key amino acid residues that play roles in recognizing multiple ligands. This discovery reveals a mechanism in which a single chemoreceptor can integrate diverse signals through two modules.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Jing-Lin Zhang, Juanli Yun, Lin Yue, Wenbin Du, Yu-Hong Liang
Summary: Post-treatment apical periodontitis (PoAP) is characterized by bacterial invasion and infection in root canal treatment. This study investigated the bacterial composition and changes in PoAP samples compared to healthy oral and primary apical periodontitis samples. The results showed that PoAP samples had distinct microbial compositions with decreased microbial diversity. Opportunistic pathogens such as Clostridia and Synergistia might play a significant role in PoAP. The microbial communities in PoAP also exhibited more active metabolic capacity.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Bingliang Xie, Jian Wang, Yong Nie, Jing Tian, Zerui Wang, Dongwei Chen, Beiyu Hu, Xiao-Lei Wu, Wenbin Du
Summary: Recent studies have identified a novel microbial community called TM7, which is an obligate symbiont that binds to its host through twitching-like motility mediated by type IV pili (T4P). This research provides insights into the lifestyle of TM7 and the diversity of CPR bacteria.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Mycology
Jiarui Yang, Juanli Yun, Xingzhong Liu, Wenbin Du, Meichun Xiang
Summary: In this study, the occurrence of early diverging fungi (EDF) in rhizosphere and bulk soils from different ecosystems in Beijing-Hebei area was investigated. More than 500 new operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of EDF were identified based on 18S rRNA genes. The dominant groups were Microsporida and Aphelida, while Rozellosporida was rare. The occurrence of EDF was influenced by soil chemical characteristics, vegetation, and other eukaryotic microorganisms, and the assembly of EDF community was primarily driven by stochastic processes.
MYCOLOGY-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON FUNGAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Beiyu Hu, Peng Xu, Liang Ma, Dongwei Chen, Jian Wang, Xin Dai, Li Huang, Wenbin Du
Summary: Microbes play a crucial role in influencing the Earth's environment, yet remain poorly understood due to limited capacity. The emerging technology of droplet microfluidics offers promising solutions for microbial studies, enabling high-throughput single-cell cultivation, screening, and sequencing. This review provides an overview of droplet microfluidics techniques for microbial research, focusing on critical steps in the microfluidic system and recent progress in microbiological applications.
MARINE LIFE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Juanli Yun, Wenbin Du
Summary: Two hydrogen-dependent methanogens from the Tibetan Plateau wetlands, belonging to the Methanomassiliicoccales order, have been identified and reported, playing a crucial role in global carbon cycling.
MICROBIOLOGY RESOURCE ANNOUNCEMENTS
(2021)