Digital Microfluidics for Manipulation and Analysis of a Single Cell

The basic structural and functional unit of a living organism is a single cell. To understand the variability and to improve the biomedical requirement of a single cell, its analysis has become a key technique in biological and biomedical research. With a physical boundary of microchannels and microstructures, single cells are efficiently captured and analyzed, whereas electric forces sort and position single cells. Various microfluidic techniques have been exploited to manipulate single cells through hydrodynamic and electric forces. Digital microfluidics (DMF), the manipulation of individual droplets holding minute reagents and cells of interest by electric forces, has received more attention recently. Because of ease of fabrication, compactness and prospective automation, DMF has become a powerful approach for biological application. We review recent developments of various microfluidic chips for analysis of a single cell and for efficient genetic screening. In addition, perspectives to develop analysis of single cells based on DMF and emerging functionality with high throughput are discussed.     

Multiply Charged Conjugated Polyelectrolytes as a Multifunctional Interlayer for Efficient and Scalable Perovskite Solar Cells

A series of anionic conjugated polyelectrolytes (CPEs) is synthesized based on poly(fluorene-co-phenylene) by varying the side-chain ionic density from two to six per repeat units (MPS2-TMA, MPS4-TMA, and MPS6-TMA). The effect of MPS2, 4, 6-TMA as interlayers on top of a hole-extraction layer of poly(bis(4-phenyl)-2,4,6-trimethylphenylamine (PTAA) is investigated in inverted perovskite solar cells (PeSCs). Owing to the improved wettability of perovskites on hydrophobic PTAA with the CPEs, the PeSCs with CPE interlayers demonstrate a significantly enhanced device performance, with negligible device-to-device dependence relative to the reference PeSC without CPEs. By increasing the ionic density in the MPS-TMA interlayers, the wetting, interfacial defect passivation, and crystal growth of the perovskites are significantly improved without increasing the series resistance of the PeSCs. In particular, the open-circuit voltage increases from 1.06 V for the PeSC with MPS2-TMA to 1.11 V for the PeSC with MPS6-TMA. The trap densities of the PeSCs with MPS2,4,6-TMA are further analyzed using frequency-dependent capacitance measurements. Finally, a large-area (1 cm²) PeSC is successfully fabricated with MPS6-TMA, showing a power conversion efficiency of 18.38% with negligible hysteresis and a stable power output under light soaking for 60 s.     

Characterization of a Tryptophan 6-Halogenase from Streptomyces albus and Its Regioselectivity Determinants

Tryptophan halogenases are found in diverse organisms and catalyze regiospecific halogenation. They play an important role in the biosynthesis of halogenated indole alkaloids, which are biologically active and of therapeutic importance. Here, a tryptophan 6-halogenase (SatH) from Streptomyces albus was characterized by using a whole-cell reaction system in Escherichia coli. SatH showed substrate specificity for chloride and bromide ions, leading to regiospecific halogenation at the C6-position of l -tryptophan. In addition, SatH exhibited higher performance in bromination than that of previously reported tryptophan halogenases in the whole-cell reaction system. Through structure-based protein mutagenesis, it has been revealed that two consecutive residues, A78/V79 in SatH and G77/I78 in PyrH, are key determinants in the regioselectivity difference between tryptophan 6- and 5-halogenases. Substituting the AV with GI residues switched the regioselectivity of SatH by moving the orientation of tryptophan. These data contribute to an understanding of the key residues that determine the regioselectivity of tryptophan halogenases.