Mitochondrial respiration is a key signature for the assessment of mitochondrial functioning and mitochondrial dysfunction is related to many diseases including metabolic syndrome and aging-associated conditions. Here, we present a microfluidic Caenorhabditis elegans culture system with integrated luminescence-based oxygen sensing. The material used for the fabrication of the microfluidic chip is off-stoichiometry dual-cure thiol–ene–epoxy (OSTE+), which is well-suited for reliably recording on-chip oxygen consumption rates (OCR) due to its low gas permeability. With our microfluidic approach, it was possible to confine a single nematode in a culture chamber, starting from the L4 stage and studying it over a time span of up to 6 days. An automated protocol for successive worm feeding and OCR measurements during worm development was applied. We found an increase of OCR values from the L4 larval stage to adulthood, and a continuous decrease as the worm further ages. In addition, we performed a C. elegans metabolic assay in which exposure to the mitochondrial uncoupling agent FCCP increased the OCR by a factor of about two compared to basal respiration rates. Subsequent treatment with sodium azide inhibited completely mitochondrial respiration.

中文翻译：

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用于秀丽隐杆线虫培养的微流体系统和耗氧率测量。

线粒体呼吸作用是评估线粒体功能的关键特征，线粒体功能障碍与包括代谢综合征和衰老相关疾病在内的许多疾病有关。在这里，我们介绍一种微流线虫秀丽隐杆线虫集成了基于发光的氧气传感的培养系统。用于制造微流控芯片的材料是非化学计量的双固化硫醇-烯-环氧树脂（OSTE +），由于其低气体渗透性，非常适合可靠地记录芯片上的耗氧率（OCR）。利用我们的微流控方法，可以将单个线虫限制在培养室中，从L4阶段开始，并在长达6天的时间范围内对其进行研究。应用了一种自动协议，用于在蠕虫发育过程中连续进行蠕虫进食和OCR测量。我们发现从L4幼虫阶段到成年期，OCR值会增加，并且随着蠕虫的进一步衰老，OCR值会持续下降。另外，我们进行了秀丽隐杆线虫代谢分析，其中暴露于线粒体解偶联剂FCCP的OCR与基础呼吸速率相比增加了约2倍。随后的叠氮化钠治疗完全抑制了线粒体呼吸。