Microfabricated Wells

The study of clonal stem cell cells in multiwell formats can be inefficient and time-consuming. Thus, to investigate low-frequency events of interest, large sample sizes must be interrogated. We developed a micropatterned arraying system compatible with conventional, high-magnification microscopy that is conducive to the dynamic monitoring of stem cell proliferation ( Chin et al, 2004 ). Microfabrication techniques were used to create an array of ~10,000 microwells on a glass coverslip. We validated this approach in collaboration with F. Gage (Salk Institute) to analyze the proliferation dynamics of rat neural stem cell population. This platform can be adapted to other cell types by tailoring the surface chemistry, microwell dimensions, and culture environment, thereby enabling parallel investigation of many cellular processes.

Each microwell in the above array is individually monitored by a computer vision system to track the behavior of the enclosed cells over time.

Day 0 Day 2 Day 4

Heterogeneous growth of stem cells can be quantified. In this example, under identical conditions single cells in the green boxes proliferate while those in the red boxes do not.