Label-free microfluidic platform for adhesion-based cell sorting

Identifying and isolating cells that express desired molecular surface markers is required in a variety of applications in the biological sciences, cell therapy, and medical diagnostics. We develop a microfluidic approach for high-throughput and label-free sorting of cells by their affinity for target ligands by molecular surface markers. We use computational modeling to examine cells adhesion kinetics at ultrafast timescales in the microfluidic channel that is decorated with periodic skewed ridges coated with adhesive molecules. Binding events can induce differential cell trajectories resulting in cell separation based on molecular affinity and molecular surface density. The approach can enable direct measurements of transient interactions between important physiological ligands and adhesive cell molecules that will benefit the development of novel diagnostic methods.