Exploring the cell interactome: deciphering relative impacts of cell–cell communication in cell co-culture using a novel microfluidic device

Abstract

The human body is made up of approximately 40 trillion cells in close contact, with the cellular density of individual tissues varying from 1 million to 1 billion cells per cubic centimetre. Interactions between different cell types (termed heterotypic) are thus common in vivo. Communication between cells can take the form of direct cell–cell contact mediated by plasma membrane proteins or through paracrine signalling mediated through the release, diffusion, and receipt of soluble factors. There is currently no systematic method to investigate the relative contributions of these mechanisms to cell behaviour. In this paper, we detail the conception, development and validation of a microfluidic device that allows cell–cell contact and paracrine signalling in defined areas and over a variety of biologically relevant length scales, referred to as the interactome-device or ‘I-device’. Importantly, by intrinsic device design features, cells in different regions in the device are exposed to four different interaction types, including a) no heterotypic cell interaction, b) only paracrine signalling, c) only cell–cell direct contact, or d) both forms of interaction (paracrine and cell–cell direct contact) together. The device design was validated by both mathematical modelling and experiments. Perfused stem cell culture over the medium term and the formation of direct contact between cells in the culture chambers was confirmed. The I-device offers significant flexibility, being able to be applied to any combination of adherent cells to determine the relative contributions of different communication mechanisms to cellular outcomes.