Reinventing microinjection : new microfluidic methods for cell biology

Abstract

Regulatory processes are responsible for the organization, division and death of cells in multicellular organisms such as humans. Additionally, cells are highly regulated internally, able to survive and respond in vastly different micro-environments. Many types of interactions of cells with their environment can be distinguished, and need to be controlled in experiments aimed at unravelling and predicting cellular behavior in vivo. The in vivo microenvironment is mimicked by exposing cells to complex and changing environments. To describe the stochastic differences between cells and the local experimental conditions in sufficient detail and to obtain statistically relevant results, high-throughput experimentation is required. In this thesis four new research methods are developed, aimed at a deeper understanding of cellular regulation in vivo.