A microfluidic device for longitudinal studies of C.elegans neurodegenerative disease models

We describe a microfluidic device for automated culture and long-term high resolution imaging of Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes, which we specifically employed as model organisms for the analysis of neurodegenerative disease progression. In this platform, we integrated: (i) a microfluidic design tailored for the confinement of worms at the L2 larval stage in separate culture chambers by means of passive hydrodynamics; (ii) an optimized protocol for worm feeding and progeny removal at desired rate, allowing follow-up of the same worms over long-term studies; (iii) a technique for reversible C.elegans immobilization, based on the thermoreversible gelation of Pluronic F127 (PF127) inside the microfluidic chip; (iv) active control of the device temperature; (v) a compact device assembly, suitable for automated multi-dimensional imaging on any upright or inverted microscope.