Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Materials Today: Proceedings 13 (2019) 332–340 www.materialstoday.com/proceedings 2214-7853 © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Nanotechnology Tec.Nano 2018. Tec.Nano 2018 Dielectrophoretic manipulation of exosomes in a multi-section microfluidic device Sergio Ayala-Mar, Roberto C. Gallo-Villanueva, José González-Valdez * Tecnologico de Monterrey, School of Engineering and Science, Av. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501 Sur, Monterrey, NL 64849, Mexico. Abstract Exosomes are a specific population of extracellular vesicles that because of their critical physiology have become of great interest in biomedical research. However, their isolation from complex biological fluids remains a difficult task. In this context, microfluidic devices offer the advantages of miniaturization and are considered an innovative strategy for their bioseparation. In this work, we present a multi-section microfluid device for exosome isolation by means of insulator-based dielectrophoresis. Our results show that exosome manipulation within the microchannel is possible, as streaming dielectrophoresis was achieved. Further device optimization is required to obtain exosome trapping for further studies and functionalization. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Nanotechnology Tec.Nano 2018. Keywords: Exosomes; Dielectrophoresis; Microfluidics; Bioseparations 1. Introduction Exosomes – a novel type of extracellular vesicles (EVs) – are naturally occurring nanocarriers that have gained importance for their potential role as health and disease biomarkers, specific vehicles for drug delivery and functionalized modulators of physiopathological processes [1–3]. Moreover, current evidence suggests that this specific population of EVs is integrated into a complex intercellular communication strategy [4,5]. Intercellular communication is crucial for the maintenance of homeostasis in multicellular organisms and it has been shown that it can be mediated partially through intercellular transfer of EVs [6–8]. Exosomes are defined as EVs ranging from 30 to 200 nm released after the fusion of the multivesicular endosome with the plasma membrane * Corresponding author. Tel.: +52(81)83582000 E-mail address: jose_gonzalez@tec.mx