Microtoxicology by microfluidic instrumentation: a review
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-1-2022
Abstract
Microtoxicology is concerned with the toxic effects of small amounts of substances. This review paper discusses the application of small amounts of noxious substances for toxicological investigation in small volumes. The vigorous development of miniaturized methods in microfluidics over the last two decades involves chip-based devices, micro droplet-based procedures, and the use of micro-segmented flow for microtoxicological studies. The studies have shown that the microfluidic approach is particularly valuable for highly parallelized and combinatorial dose-response screenings. Accurate dosing and mixing of effector substances in large numbers of microcompartments supplies detailed data of dose-response functions by highly concentration-resolved assays and allows evaluation of stochastic responses in case of small separated cell ensembles and single cell experiments. The investigations demonstrate that very different biological targets can be studied using miniaturized approaches, among them bacteria, eukaryotic microorganisms, cell cultures from tissues of multicellular organisms, stem cells, and early embryonic states. Cultivation and effector exposure tests can be performed in small volumes over weeks and months, confirming that the microfluicial strategy is also applicable for slow-growing organisms. Here, the state of the art of miniaturized toxicology, particularly for studying antibiotic susceptibility, drug toxicity testing in the miniaturized system like organ-on-chip, environmental toxicology, and the characterization of combinatorial effects by two and multi-dimensional screenings, is discussed. Additionally, this review points out the practical limitations of the microtoxicology platform and discusses perspectives on future opportunities and challenges.
Identifier
85131783791 (Scopus)
Publication Title
Lab on A Chip
External Full Text Location
https://doi.org/10.1039/d2lc00268j
e-ISSN
14730189
ISSN
14730197
PubMed ID
35678285
First Page
2600
Last Page
2623
Issue
14
Volume
22
Grant
2016FE9016
Fund Ref
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
Recommended Citation
Cao, Jialan; Chande, Charmi; and Köhler, J. Michael, "Microtoxicology by microfluidic instrumentation: a review" (2022). Faculty Publications. 2914.
https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/fac_pubs/2914