Browsing by Author "Lin, Yi-Ying"

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Development of a Graphene Oxide-Incorporated Polydimethylsiloxane Membrane with Hexagonal Micropillars
(2018-09-01)
Lin, Yi-Ying
;
Chien, Yueh
;
Chuang, Jen-Hua
;
Chang, Chia-Ching
;
Yang, Yi-Ping
Several efforts have been made on the development of bioscaffolds including the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer for supporting cell growth into stable sheets. However, PDMS has several disadvantages, such as intrinsic surface hydrophobicity and mechanical strength. Herein, we generated a novel PDMS-based biomimetic membrane by sequential modifications of the PMDS elastomer with graphene oxide (GO) and addition of a hexagonal micropillar structure at the bottom of the biomembrane. GO was initially homogenously mixed with pure PDMS and then was further coated onto the upper surface of the resultant PDMS. The elastic modulus and hydrophilicity were significantly improved by such modifications. In addition, the development of hexagonal micropillars with smaller diameters largely improved the ion permeability and increased the motion resistance. We further cultured retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells on the surface of this modified PDMS biomembrane and assayed its biocompatibility. Remarkably, the GO incorporation and coating exhibited beneficial effect on the cell growth and the new formation of tight junctions in RPE cells. Taken together, this GO-modified PDMS scaffold with polyhexagonal micropillars may be utilized as an ideal cell sheet and adaptor for cell cultivation and can be used in vivo for the transplantation of cells such as RPE cells.
Formation of suspended bilayer lipid membrane between electrowetting-driven encapsulated droplets
(2014-09-01)
Fan, Shih-Kang
;
Chen, Ching-Wen
;
Lin, Yi-Ying
;
Chen, Li-Chi
;
Tseng, Fan-Gang
Using limited lipid molecules held by two water-core/oil-shell encapsulated droplets, we formed an optically observable bilayer lipid membrane (BLM) across a microfabricated aperture whose dimension was precisely determined and easily scalable. For the minute volume of a 0.1 mu L oil (n-decane) shell encapsulating a 1.5 mu L water core droplet, only 0.2 to 2.8 nmol or 0.17 to 2.4 mu g lipid was required. Microscopes and electrophysiological measurements were performed on the parallel-plate device with three major steps demonstrated: (1) manipulating self-assembled lipid monolayers at the water-oil interface of the encapsulated droplets by electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD), (2) forming a BLM by bringing two lipid monolayers towards the aperture and thinning down the oil film between them by Young-Laplace pressure, and (3) incorporating membrane-bound nanopores, alpha-hemolysin (alpha HL), on the BLM. This study shows the influence of the lipid concentration to the interfacial tension and EWOD. Plateau-Gibbs border and black membrane area of the BLM were optically observed, while trans-membrane electrophysiological signals were electrically recorded from a pair of Ag/AgCl electrodes. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.