Plastic Microfluidics-Based 2-D PAGE

University Of Maryland, College Park, College Park MD

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports an effort to develop a miniaturized and integrated two-dimensional (2-D) protein separation platform based on non-native isoelectric focusing and SDS gel electrophoresis in a microfluidic network. The network will be embedded in a small plastic chip, and the device will employ laser-induced fluorescence for the detection of resolved SDS-protein complexes in the microchannel array using non-covalent, environment-sensitive, fluorescent probes. The resulting instrumentation system will be capable of analyzing complex mixtures of proteins, including crude cell lysates containing minute quantities of protein. In addition, the device will be amenable to much greater automation, throughput, and sensitivity than existing gel-based systems. This microfluidics-based instrumentation technology, positioned as the next generation of 2-D poly acrylimide gel electrophoresis, promises to have a major impact on proteomics research, particularly in comparisons of protein expression in organisms growing under different conditions.