Date of Award

6-8-2016

Document Type

Thesis - SCU Access Only

Publisher

Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2016.

Department

Bioengineering

First Advisor

Kim, Unyoung

Abstract

There is little information known on the behavior of exosomes within the cell. These lipid bilayer enclosed extracellular vesicles function in cell-cell response but the mechanism behind their excretion is still unknown. Due to their multiple functions within the cell, there is hope for their use in applications such as diagnostic markers and therapeutic strategies in cancer diagnosis and prognosis. This is partially due to how difficult it is to study exosomes. There is a need for a simpler approach to study exosome movement, mechanism and density within cells. Our team addressed that issue by creating a simple, microfluidic cell patterning system. We analyzed Human Embryonic Kidney 293 (HEK 293) cell behavior and adhesion when introduced to a patterned surface modified platform. We were able to successfully optimize our fabrication process and surface patterning techniques as well as quantify patterning efficiency using patterned GFP labeled cells. Cell behavior was observed at various time points throughout the study, but visible pattern was quantified at the 48-hour time mark.

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