Passively Operated Microfluidic Device for Stimulation and Secretion Sampling of Single Pancreatic Islets

A passively operated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic device was designed for sampling of hormone secretions from eight individual murine pancreatic islets in parallel. Flow control was achieved using a single hand-held syringe and by exploiting inherent fluidic resistances of the microchannels (R sampling = 700 ± 20 kPa s mm–3 at 37 °C). Basal (3 mM) or stimulatory (11 mM) glucose levels were applied to islets, with stimulation timing (t stim) minimized to 15 ± 2 s using modified reservoirs. Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) for postsampling analyses, we measured statistically equal levels of 1 h insulin secretion (1.26 ± 0.26 and 6.55 ± 1.00 pg islet–1 min–1, basal and stimulated; 62 islets) compared to standard, bulk sampling methods (1.01 ± 0.224 and 6.04 ± 1.53 pg islet–1 min–1, basal and stimulated; 200 islets). Importantly, the microfluidic platform revealed novel information on single-islet variability. Islet volume measurements with confocal reflectance microscopy revealed that insulin secretion had only limited correlation to islet volume, suggesting a more significant role for cellular architecture and paracrine signaling within the tissue. Compared to other methods using syringe pumps or electroosmotic flow control, this approach provides significant advantages in ease-of-use and device disposability, easing the burden on nonexperts.