An apparatus and method for accelerating and/or inhibiting the migration of cells by applying a time-varying magnetic field to induce eddy currents that promote electrotaxis (galvanotaxis) of cells without the need for chemokines or glucose. The present invention can also be used to study and quantify the metastatic potential of different cell lines.

An apparatus for collecting or culturing cells or cell colonies includes: a common substrate formed from a flexible resilient polymeric material and having a plurality of wells formed therein; and a plurality of rigid cell carriers releasably connected to said common substrate, with said carriers arranged in the form of an array, and with each of the carriers resiliently received in one of the wells. A method of collecting or culturing cells or cell colonies with such an apparatus is carried out by depositing a liquid media carrying cells on the apparatus so that said cells settle on or adhere to said the carriers; and then (c) releasing at least one selected carrier having said cells thereon by gradual application of release energy to each carrier from the cavity in which it is received (e.g., by pushing with a probe).

The present invention is drawn to the generation of micropatterns of biomolecules and cells on standard laboratory materials through selective ablation of a physisorbed biomolecule with oxygen plasma. In certain embodiments, oxygen plasma is able to ablate selectively physisorbed layers of biomolecules (e.g., type-I collagen, fibronectin, laminin, and Matrigel) along complex non-linear paths which are difficult or impossible to pattern using alternative methods. In addition, certain embodiments of the present invention relate to the micropatterning of multiple cell types on curved surfaces, multiwell plates, and flat bottom flasks. The invention also features kits for use with the subject methods.

The invention relates to a multi-well plate comprising a support, the upper surface of which is at least partially covered with a continuous layer of a hydrogel in contact with the lower surface of a bottomless multi-well plate, the support, the continuous layer, and the bottomless multi-well plate being adhered by means of an adhesive which extends from at least certain portions of the lower surface of the bottomless multi-well plate up to certain portions of the upper surface of the support by passing through the continuous layer of hydrogel, each well of the bottomless multi-well plate being entirely surrounded by the at least certain portions of the lower surface. The application also relates to a method for preparing the multi-well plate and the use thereof for in vitro cell culture.

Provided is a resin film formed of a cell culture scaffold material, which has excellent fixation of cells after seeding and is capable of enhancing proliferation rate of cells. A resin film formed of a cell culture scaffold material, in which the cell culture scaffold material contains a synthetic resin, and the resin film has phase-separated structure including least a first phase and a second phase, and a ratio of the surface area of one of the first phase and the second phase to the entire surface is 0.01 or more and 0.95 or less.

An apparatus for collecting or culturing cells or cell colonies includes: a common substrate formed from a flexible resilient polymeric material and having a plurality of wells formed therein; and a plurality of rigid cell carriers releasably connected to said common substrate, with said carriers arranged in the form of an array, and with each of the carriers resiliently received in one of the wells. A method of collecting or culturing cells or cell colonies with such an apparatus is carried out by depositing a liquid media carrying cells on the apparatus so that said cells settle on or adhere to said the carriers; and then (c) releasing at least one selected carrier having said cells thereon by gradual application of release energy to each carrier from the cavity in which it is received (e.g., by pushing with a probe).

This presently disclosed subject matter relates to an in vitro cell culture comprising a cell monolayer comprising mucus producing cells and a mucus layer, and methods of making and using the same. The methods including culturing mucus producing cells on a cell support structure under conditions to establish a mucus layer on the luminal side of the cell monolayer, thereby producing a live cell construct comprising a cell monolayer comprising mucus producing cells and a mucus layer. The mucus layer can be substantially impenetrable to micro-objects, and have a thickness of about 1 micron to about 1 cm.

An in vitro microfluidic device includes a device configured to model a blood-brain barrier. The device includes a center well in fluidic communication with each of an inlet and an outlet. Each of the center well, inlet, and outlet includes a porous membrane that separates a “blood” portion (a fluid flow portion) from a “brain” portion (a fluid containing portion). The porous membrane is seeded with endothelial cells such as the human venule endothelial cells (HUVECs) on the blood side, and with astrocytes on the brain side, to accurately model the blood-brain barrier. Fluid flows between the inlet, the center well, and the outlet to test the permeability of the porous membrane, thereby providing an accurate in vitro model of a blood-brain barrier.

An object of the present invention is to provide an artificial tissue perfusion device capable of analyzing the interaction between a vascular cell layer and a parenchymal cell layer with high accuracy. An artificial tissue perfusion device includes a co-culture system (C) in which a plurality of types of cell are cultured. The co-culture system has a tubular well part (10) having a culture space (11) inside; a base material (20) having a perfusion flow path (26) which extends in a predetermined direction and is perfused with a medium, and a holding part (23) which opens to the perfusion flow path and holds the well part attachably and detachably; and a gel membrane (30) having a form of a porous membrane and disposed at an end portion of the well part facing the perfusion flow path in a case where the well part is held by the holding part. A tissue-based cell is cultured on a surface side of the gel membrane facing the culture space, and a luminal cell is cultured on a surface side of the gel membrane facing the perfusion flow path.

A packed-bed bioreactor system for culturing cells is provided, the system including a cell culture vessel having at least one interior reservoir, an inlet fluidly connected to the reservoir, and an outlet fluidly connected to the reservoir; and a cell culture matrix disposed in the reservoir. The cell culture matrix includes a structurally defined multi-layered substrate for adhering cells thereto, and each layer of the multi-layered substrate has a physical structure and a porosity that are substantially regular and uniform.