Recent advances in microfluidic single-cell analysis and its applications in drug development

• Published in: TrAC, Trends in analytical chemistry (Regular ed.) Trends in analytical chemistry (Regular ed.), 2022-12, Vol.157, p.116796, Article 116796
• Main Authors: Jiao, Yufeng, Gao, Liyang, Ji, Yaru, Liu, Wu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cellular heterogeneity; Drug development; High-throughput screening; Microfluidics; Single-cell analysis (SCA)
• ISSN: 0165-9936; 1879-3142
• DOI: 10.1016/j.trac.2022.116796

Cellular heterogeneity is prevalent in all cell populations. Single-cell analysis (SCA) could unveil the heterogeneity and thus gain unique insights into complex biological processes. SCA has been widely used in various fields of life sciences and medicine, providing discerning information inaccessible by conventional population-based experiments. In drug development, SCA shows attractive power in revealing the origin of drug resistance, identifying new targets for drug intervention, accelerating the process of drug screening, as well as predicting drug response. In this article, we summarize the major advances in SCA technology and its applications for drug development over the past five years, and discuss the challenges and future research opportunities in this field. •Microfluidics has progressed as a powerful platform for single-cell analysis.•Detection strategies coupling to microfluidic platforms for single-cell analysis are summarized.•Latest applications of microfluidic single-cell analysis in drug development are summarized.•Microfluidic single-cell analysis would promote personalized medicine and advanced therapies.