A Novel Fluidic Platform for Semi-Automated Cell Culture into Multiwell-like Bioreactors
Francesca Maria Orecchio,
Vito Tommaso,
Tommaso Santaniello,
Sara Castiglioni,
Federico Pezzotta,
Andrea Monti,
Francesco Butera,
Jeanette Anne Marie Maier,
Paolo Milani
Affiliations
Francesca Maria Orecchio
Interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence for Nanostructured Materials and Interfaces (C.I.Ma.I.Na.), Department of Physics, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Celoria, 16, 20133 Milan, Italy
Vito Tommaso
Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Battista Grassi 74, 20157 Milan, Italy
Tommaso Santaniello
Interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence for Nanostructured Materials and Interfaces (C.I.Ma.I.Na.), Department of Physics, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Celoria, 16, 20133 Milan, Italy
Sara Castiglioni
Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Battista Grassi 74, 20157 Milan, Italy
Federico Pezzotta
Interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence for Nanostructured Materials and Interfaces (C.I.Ma.I.Na.), Department of Physics, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Celoria, 16, 20133 Milan, Italy
Andrea Monti
Dolphin Fluidics S.r.l., Via Leonardo Da Vinci, 40, 20094 Corsico, Italy
Francesco Butera
Dolphin Fluidics S.r.l., Via Leonardo Da Vinci, 40, 20094 Corsico, Italy
Jeanette Anne Marie Maier
Interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence for Nanostructured Materials and Interfaces (C.I.Ma.I.Na.), Department of Physics, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Celoria, 16, 20133 Milan, Italy
Paolo Milani
Interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence for Nanostructured Materials and Interfaces (C.I.Ma.I.Na.), Department of Physics, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Celoria, 16, 20133 Milan, Italy
In this work, we developed and characterized a novel fluidic platform that enables long-term in vitro cell culture in a semi-automated fashion. The system is constituted by a control unit provided with a piezoelectric pump, miniaturized valves, and a microfluidic network for management and fine control of reagents’ flow, connected to a disposable polymeric culture unit resembling the traditional multiwell-like design. As a proof of principle, Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVEC) and Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hMSC) were seeded and cultured into the cell culture unit. The proliferation rate of HUVEC and the osteogenic differentiation of hMSC were assessed and compared to standard culture in Petri dishes. The results obtained demonstrated that our approach is suitable to perform semi-automated cell culture protocols, minimizing the contribution of human operators and allowing the standardization and reproducibility of the procedures. We believe that the proposed system constitutes a promising solution for the realization of user-friendly automated control systems that will favor the standardization of cell culture processes for cell factories, drug testing, and biomedical research.
