Lab-in-a-trench platform for real-time monitoring of cell surface protein expression

In this work we for the first time demonstrate real-time monitoring of the expression of membrane proteins in native, live cells, free of hydrodynamic stress at single cell resolution. This micro-optofluidic mechanism is uniquely enabled by the intricate interplay of gravity induced sedimentation with laminar flow, fast diffusion and short optical path length on our lab-in-a-trench platform.