Microfluidics Coupled Mass Spectrometry for Single Cell Multi‐Omics

Abstract

AbstractPopulation‐level analysis masks significant heterogeneity between individual cells, making it difficult to accurately reflect the true intricacies of life activities. Microfluidics is a technique that can manipulate individual cells effectively and is commonly coupled with a variety of analytical methods for single‐cell analysis. Single‐cell omics provides abundant molecular information at the single‐cell level, fundamentally revealing differences in cell types and biological states among cell individuals, leading to a deeper understanding of cellular phenotypes and life activities. Herein, this work summarizes the microfluidic chips designed for single‐cell isolation, manipulation, trapping, screening, and sorting, including droplet microfluidic chips, microwell arrays, hydrodynamic microfluidic chips, and microchips with microvalves. This work further reviews the studies on single‐cell proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, and multi‐omics based on microfluidics and mass spectrometry. Finally, the challenges and future application of single‐cell multi‐omics are discussed.