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Integrated Microwell Array Technologies for Single Cell Analysis

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Handbook of Single-Cell Technologies

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Abstract

Microwell arrays are an important tool for high-throughput single cell analysis, with different approaches of microwell-based studies being described over the last years. For this, a large variety of materials and microfabrication techniques has been developed for fabrication of microwells with dimensions compatible to the size of a single cell. Cells can be administered to the microwell array by manual pipetting or in an automated fashion by microfluidics, after which they can passively sediment inside the microwells. To increase cell docking efficiency, active seeding methods such as centrifugation or dielectrophoresis can be integrated. Furthermore, several techniques can be combined with microwell arrays for targeted single cell manipulation in a microwell, such as optical tweezers or a micromanipulator. The versatility of these microwell-based single cell analyses has enabled to study different cell types, ranging from bacteria to yeast and human cells with spatiotemporal resolution.

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Author notes

  1. Jolien Breukers, Caroline Struyfs and Sara Horta contributed equally with all other contributors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosystems – Biosensors Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Jolien Breukers & Jeroen Lammertyn

  2. Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Caroline Struyfs, Karin Thevissen & Bruno P. A. Cammue

  3. VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Ghent, Belgium

    Caroline Struyfs & Bruno P. A. Cammue

  4. Laboratory for Thrombosis Research, IRF Life Sciences, KU Leuven Campus Kulak Kortrijk, Kortrijk, Belgium

    Sara Horta & Karen Vanhoorelbeke

Authors
  1. Jolien Breukers
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  2. Caroline Struyfs
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  3. Sara Horta
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  4. Karin Thevissen
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  5. Karen Vanhoorelbeke
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  6. Bruno P. A. Cammue
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  7. Jeroen Lammertyn
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Correspondence to Jeroen Lammertyn .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Engineering Design, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India

    Tuhin Subhra Santra

  2. Department of Engineering and System Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Fan-Gang Tseng

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Breukers, J. et al. (2022). Integrated Microwell Array Technologies for Single Cell Analysis. In: Santra, T.S., Tseng, FG. (eds) Handbook of Single-Cell Technologies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8953-4_21

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