Modulating Temporal and Spatial Oxygenation over Adherent Cellular Cultures

Oxygen is a key modulator of many cellular pathways, but current devices permitting in vitro oxygen modulation fail to meet the needs of biomedical research. A microfabricated insert for multiwell plates has been developed to more effectively control the temporal and spatial oxygen concentration to better model physiological phenomena found in vivo. The platform consists of a polydimethylsiloxane insert that nests into a standard multiwell plate and serves as a passive microfluidic gas network with a gas-permeable membrane aimed to modulate oxygen delivery to adherent cells. Equilibration time is on the order of minutes and a wide variety of oxygen profiles can be attained based on the device design, such as the cyclic profile achieved in this study, and even oxygen gradients to mimic those found in vivo. The proper biological consequences of the device's oxygen delivery were confirmed in cellular models via a proliferation assay and western analysis of the upregulation of hypoxia inducible transcription factor-1α. These experiments serve as a demonstration for the platform as a viable tool to increase experimental throughput and permit novel experimental possibilities in any biomedical research lab.