A Microfluidic Chip for Studying Intercellular Communication via Gap Junction Channels

Cells in tissues and organs coordinate their activities with each other, and this communication is mainly mediated by specialized channels, called Gap Junctions. To date, our understanding of specificity of reagents and extracellular stimuli to gap junctions is very limited. Existing techniques for gap junctions assay are tedious and not convenient. We have developed a microfluidic chip that is capable of detecting chemical diffusion across gap junctions, as well as screening reagents for specific gap junction channels.