An innovative cell microincubator for drug discovery based on 3D silicon structures

We recently employed three-dimensional (3D) silicon microstructures (SMSs) consisting in arrays of 3 mu m-thick silicon walls separated by 50 mu m-deep, 5 mu m-wide gaps, as microincubators for monitoring the biomechanical properties of tumor cells. They were here applied to investigate the in vitro behavior of HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cells driven to apoptosis by the chemotherapeutic drug Bleomycin. Our results, obtained by fluorescence microscopy, demonstrated that HT1080 cells exhibited a great ability to colonize the narrow gaps. Remarkably, HT1080 cells grown on 3D-SMS, when treated with the DNA damaging agent Bleomycin under conditions leading to apoptosis, tended to shrink, reducing their volume and mimicking the normal behavior of apoptotic cells, and were prone to leave the gaps. Finally, we performed label-free detection of cells adherent to the vertical silicon wall, inside the gap of 3D-SMS, by exploiting optical low coherence reflectometry using infrared, low power radiation. This kind of approach may become a new tool for increasing automation in the drug discovery area. Our results open new perspectives in view of future applications of the 3D-SMS as the core element of a lab-on-a-chip suitable for screening the effect of new molecules potentially able to kill tumor cells.