Cells can respond and adapt to complex forms of environmental change. Budding yeast is widely used as a model system for these stress response studies. In these studies, the precise control of the environment with high temporal resolution is most important. However, there is a lack of single-cell research platforms that enable precise control of the temperature and form of cell growth. This has hindered our understanding of cellular coping strategies in the face of diverse forms of temperature change. Here, we developed a novel temperature-controlled microfluidic platform that integrates a microheater (using liquid metal) and a thermocouple (liquid metal vs. conductive PDMS) on a chip. Three forms of temperature changes (step, gradient, and periodical oscillations) were realized by automated equipment. The platform has the advantages of low cost and a simple fabrication process. Moreover, we investigated the nuclear entry and exit behaviors of the transcription factor Msn2 in yeast in response to heat stress (37 °C) with different heating modes. The feasibility of this temperature-controlled platform for studying the protein dynamic behavior of yeast cells was demonstrated.

中文翻译：

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用于单细胞水平出芽酵母热休克响应分析的集成温控微流体系统


细胞可以响应并适应复杂形式的环境变化。出芽酵母被广泛用作这些应激反应研究的模型系统。在这些研究中，以高时间分辨率精确控制环境是最重要的。然而，缺乏能够精确控制细胞生长的温度和形式的单细胞研究平台。这阻碍了我们对细胞面对不同形式的温度变化时的应对策略的理解。在这里，我们开发了一种新型温控微流体平台，该平台在芯片上集成了微加热器（使用液态金属）和热电偶（液态金属与导电 PDMS）。自动化设备实现了三种形式的温度变化（阶跃、梯度和周期性振荡）。该平台具有成本低、制作工艺简单的优点。此外，我们研究了酵母中转录因子Msn2在不同加热模式下响应热应激（37℃）的核进入和退出行为。证明了该温控平台用于研究酵母细胞蛋白质动态行为的可行性。