Cell electrofusion in microfluidic devices: A review

Cell electrofusion in microfluidic devices attracted great attention in recent years due to its widespread applications potential in cell-based studies. In these microfluidic devices, many manipulation methods, such as chemical conjugation, electric field induced dielectrophoresis, and microfluidic controlling based on microstructure, are used to improve the pairing precision of cells, especially heterogeneous cells. High-strength electric field can produce minipores on cell membrane and induce cell fusion. It can be generated by a constricting electric field with microstructures or two microelectrodes. In comparison with the traditional electrofusion or other cell-fusion methods, microfluidic cell-electrofusion method has many advantages such as precise manipulation, high efficiency in cell pairing and fusion, higher cell viability, lower sample contamination and smaller Joule heating effect. In this article, the development of various microfluidic cell-electrofusion methods is reviewed. Some important parameters affecting the cell electrofusion are discussed in detail. Techniques that can be integrated on microfluidic devices for high-efficiency cell electrofusion, such as on-chip cell separation and culture, are also discussed comprehensively.