University researchers have discovered a much larger spectrum of differences between individual cells than previously demonstrated through the use of integrated fluidic circuits (IFCs) from Fluidigm.
Among these differences are the communication capabilities that emerge from the interactions of genetic circuitry that mediates cell-to-cell communication.
As well as Fluidigm's dynamic array and digital array IFCs, Stanford University also used Fluidigm support instrumentation for its cell culture chip as part of this analysis and modelling on how biological systems operate at the cellular level.
The institution researchers found that cells don't all act in a uniform fashion, as was previously thought.
Up to now, most of the scientific information gathered on cell signalling has been obtained from populations of cells using bulk assays due to technological limitations on the ability to examine each individual cell.
The study, using an imaging system developed at Stanford based on microfluidics, shows that scientists have been misled by the results of the cell-population-based studies.
The Fluidigm technology enabled the Stanford researchers to look at thousands of individuals cells and conduct a multitude of tests on each cell.
The study used a combination of Fluidigm 48.48 Dynamic Array IFCs to perform 2,304 qPCR reactions in parallel per chip.
The cycle thresholds measured during qPCR reactions were converted into relative expression levels and those expression levels were calibrated for total mRNA molecules per cell using Fluidigm Digital Array IFCs performing digital-PCR measurements on a single gene.
The study reports that these results highlight the value of high-throughput, quantitative measurements with single-cell resolution in understanding how biological systems operate.
