Intra- and Extracellular chips for cell mechanics
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Arjona Hidalgo, María IsabelEditorial
Universidad de Granada
Departamento
Universidad de Granada. Programa de Doctorado en Física y Ciencias del EspacioMateria
Extracellular chips Cells Intracellular chips Mechanical chips
Date
2021Fecha lectura
2021-04-09Referencia bibliográfica
Arjona Hidalgo, María Isabel. Intra- and Extracellular chips for cell mechanics. Granada: Universidad de Granada, 2021 [http://hdl.handle.net/10481/68002]
Sponsorship
Tesis Univ. Granada.; Ayuda para la Formación de Personal Investigador (FPI) with reference BES-2015-075932; TEC2014- 51940-C2-1-R (MINAHE5) and TEC2017-85059-C3-1-R (MINAHE6) of the Ministerio de Economía y Competetividad of the Spanish Government with Feder; Instituto de Microelectrónica de Barcelona (IMB-CNM, CSIC)Abstract
The Micro- and NanoTooLs group, as a worldwide pioneer in the development
of silicon-based suspended chips, has previously enabled the development of
micro- and nanodevices small enough to be internalized by living cells. Passive devices, as barcodes, or active devices as biochemical sensors, electrical
stimulators or nanomechanical sensors have been developed for chip-in-a-cell
and chip-on-a-cell applications. From the previous achievement of developing and testing an intracellular pressure sensor, motivated by the mechanical
analysis of cells, a new line was opened within the group covering one of the
most promising current research hot-topic in cell biology: Cell Mechanics.
This thesis has been focused on the development of innovative tools to explore cellular mechanical properties from inside and outside the cell. This
development consisted in the design, fabrication, characterization, mechanical simulation and biological validation of micro- and nanodevices.
Chips were fabricated with the required design using micro and nanofabrication processes based on silicon technologies. Hence, these technologies allow
the development of tools with functional parts at the micro- and nanometer scale. The mechanical behaviour of these devices was analysed by finite
element method simulations, and was compared with an experimental mechanical characterization of fabricated samples. The biological application of
the devices is presented as a final step in most of the tools developed on this
thesis, with the analysis of their biocompatibility as a mandatory study.
Here, we have demonstrated the integration of multiple functionalities within
a single chip. To accomplish this, intracellular magnetic biocompatible barcodes were developed enabling both, the labelling, and the magnetic mechanical-manipulation of living cells. Moreover, the second generation of an
intracellular pressure sensor has been designed and fabricated through the
advances of the technological development of the sealing of a cavity at room
temperature and atmospheric pressure to reach millibar sensitivities. Furthermore, the mechanical characterization of the cytoplasm in mouse one-cell
embryo development has been accomplished through the use of an intracellular nanodevice, being the basis for the development of new intracellular
tools for mechanical sensing within eukaryotic cells. Finally, an extracellular
system based on the mechanical failure of silicon chips anchored to the substrate has been designed, fabricated, characterized and validated as a tool
for the sensing of cell ultimate traction forces. Overall, the obtained results
highlight the reliability of the silicon micro- and nanotechnologies for the
fabrication of mechanical chips for and at the scale of living cells.