Towards single-cell analysis for pharmacokinetics

Traditional ‘macroscopic’ pharmacokinetics (PK) investigates the fate of drugs or toxicants administered externally to living organisms, described by the extent and rate of absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion. However, how a single cell affects a specific pharmaceutical after administration still remains a largely untouched area, primarily due to the technical restrictions imposed by minute amounts of chemicals involved. With the fast development of high-temporal and spatial-resolution detection techniques and single-cell handling techniques, it becomes possible to pursue single-cell PK. This review summarizes useful methodological and experimental techniques to investigate PK at the level of the single cell, including the microfluidics-based...