Microfluidic Platforms for Single-Cell Analysis

Microfluidics, the study and control of the fluidic behavior in microstructures, has emerged as an important enabling tool for single-cell chemical analysis. The complex procedures for chemical cytometry experiments can be integrated into a single microfabricated device. The capability of handling a volume of liquid as small as picoliters can be utilized to manipulate cells, perform controlled cell lysis and chemical reactions, and efficiently minimize sample dilution after lysis. The separation modalities such as chromatography and electrophoresis within microchannels are incorporated to analyze various types of intracellular components quantitatively. The microfluidic approach offers a rapid, accurate, and cost-effective tool for single-cell biology. We present an overview of the recent developments in microfluidic technology for chemical-content analysis of individual cells.