The establishment of techniques for the analysis and detection of rare cells circulating in the vascular network (circulating stem cells, circulating tumor cells, etc.) is significantly useful for the early detection of cancer, or the detection of rare diseases. However, such techniques are currently limited by implementation difficulties the fact that these cells are found at very low concentrations in the patient’s blood. The use of microfluidic systems, permitting high throughput and single cell analyses,is therefore highly significant for overcoming these challenges.
In this context, a research project is being conducted at ENS Paris Saclay, in collaboration with the University of Evry and the hospital Lariboisière of Paris for the development of a novel microfluidic device to detect and capture these rare cells, based on their mechanical properties and particularly their deformability and invasive capacity.
Work to be performed:
The student will as a first part of the study use a microfluidic device, composed of a series of restrictions permitting the application of mechanical compressions on single cells (see image below), to compare the deformability of cancer cells that have different invasive capacities. The passage time in the restriction will be assessed in order to characterize their mechanical properties which will then be compared to an analysis using Atomic Force Microscopy. As a second part of this study, the student will observe and analyze the compression of the nucleus ofeach type of cancer cell using fluorescent markers and confocal microscopy to bring new insights to the characterization of their mechanical properties. Finally, depending on the work progress, the student will study another microfluidic system with a different fabrication process permitting the creation of circular microfluidic channels, more realistic in mimicking physiological flow systems.