2P-329 : Monitoring of cell-cell interaction in a programmable static droplet array with a confined microenvironment

Cell-cell interaction can occur through biochemical signaling molecules, regulating a variety of biological responses such as quorum sensing, biofilm formation, and inflammatory response. However, traditional cell culture systems are difficult to accurately reproduce the effects of cell-cell interactions and mixed cell populations, have no single cell resolution, and often have limited sensitivity and accuracy. Thus, there is a growing need for a novel platform for isolating, manipulating, tracking, and imaging cells to better study the various cell-cell interaction scenarios. Here we present a programmable static droplet array (SDA) for monitoring of the effect of population on natural cell-cell contact and signaling processes in a confined microenvironment. The SDA provides a valuable research tool to study cell-cell communication and signaling in a controlled microenvironment with the sensitivity and accuracy required for screening and long-term phenotypic analysis.