We present here a new method to easily and reliably generate an array of hundreds of dispersed nanoliter-volume semi-droplets for single-cells culture and analysis. The liquid segmentation step occurs directly in indexed traps by a tweezer-like mechanism and is stabilized by spatial confinement. Unlike common droplet-based techniques, the semi-droplet wets its surrounding trap walls thus supporting the culturing of both adherent and non-adherent cells. To eliminate cross-droplet cell migration and chemical cross-talk each semi-droplet is separated from a nearby trap by an ∼80 pL air plug. The overall setup and injection procedure takes less than 10 minutes, is insensitive to fabrication defects and supports cell recovery for downstream analysis. The method offers a new approach to easily capture, image and culture single cells in a chemically isolated microenvironment as a preliminary step towards high-throughput single-cell assays.

中文翻译：

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静态液滴阵列，用于在孤立的化学微环境中培养单个活贴壁细胞†

我们在这里提出了一种新方法，可以轻松，可靠地生成数百个分散的纳升体积的半液滴阵列，用于单细胞培养和分析。液体分割步骤通过镊子状机制直接在分度捕集阱中发生，并通过空间限制使其稳定。与普通的基于液滴的技术不同，半液滴可润湿其周围的捕集壁，从而支持粘附细胞和非粘附细胞的培养。为了消除交叉液滴的细胞迁移和化学干扰，每个半液滴通过约80 pL的空气塞与附近的阱分离。整个设置和注入过程耗时不到10分钟，对制造缺陷不敏感，并支持细胞回收以进行下游分析。该方法提供了一种易于捕获的新方法，