Ricinus communis agglutinin I functionalisation of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as a substrate for microfluidic device

We report a functionalisation strategy which is able to generate Ricinus communis agglutinin I (RCA 120) modified PMMA microfluidic device for binding and culturing living cells. The functionalisation is achieved by standard amine-aldehyde (Schiff base) reaction through the cross-linker, glutaraldehyde. To prove the ability of the RCA 120 modified PMMA surface, the PC 12 cell line (rat pheochromocytoma cells) has been captured and cultured by the microfluidic device. In the presence of tunicamycin, the dose/time-dependence on decreasing of binding affinity of RCA 120 modified device with PC 12 cell is also observed. The experimental results demonstrate that the lectin-functionalized microfluidic device can be employed as efficient cell culturing platform, and has a great promise of being used as a powerful tool for monitoring the interaction of drug with living cell.