A microfluidic device for studying the production of reactive oxygen species and the migration in lung cancer cells under single or coexisting chemical/electrical stimulation

© 2016, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are known to play an important role in the development of cancer, and many exogenous sources are believed to be related to the formation of ROS. For example, electric field is one of such factors reported to stimulate the production of ROS. Moreover, electric field is also shown to induce cell migration, a phenomenon termed electrotaxis. In this paper, a microfluidic chip was developed for studying the production of ROS and the migration in lung cancer cells under single or coexisting chemical/electrical stimulation. This chip has two unique features: (1) Five relative concentrations of 0, 1/8, 1/2, 7/8, and 1 are achieved in the culture regions; (2) five different strengths of EFs are produced inside these culture areas. Lung cancer cells were seeded inside this biocompatible chip for investigating their response to different concentrations of H2O2, a chemical stimulus known to increase the production of ROS. Then, the effects of honokiol, a chemical stimulus, in combination with electric field, a physical stimulus, on lung cancer cells were examined. Finally, lung cancer cell migration was investigated under single or combined honokiol/electric field treatments. The current microfluidic chip provides an in vitro platform mimicking the physiological condition where cells are under circulating conditions and are subject to controllable chemical/physical stimuli.