Abdelgawad Mohamed, Watson Michael W L, Wheeler Aaron R
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G8, Canada.
Lab Chip. 2009 Apr 21;9(8):1046-51. doi: 10.1039/b820682a. Epub 2009 Feb 18.
Microchannels can separate analytes faster with higher resolution, higher efficiency and with lower reagent consumption than typical column techniques. Unfortunately, an impediment in the path toward fully integrated microchannel-based labs-on-a-chip is the integration of pre-separation sample processing. Although possible in microchannels, such steps are challenging because of the difficulty in maintaining spatial control over many reagents simultaneously. In contrast, the alternative format of digital microfluidics (DMF), in which discrete droplets are manipulated on an array of electrodes, is well-suited for carrying out sequential chemical reactions. Here, we report the development of the first digital-channel hybrid microfluidic device for integrated pre-processing reactions and chemical separations. The device was demonstrated to be useful for on-chip labeling of amino acids and primary amines in cell lysate, as well as enzymatic digestion of peptide standards, followed by separation in microchannels. Given the myriad applications requiring pre-processing and chemical separations, the hybrid digital-channel format has the potential to become a powerful new tool for micro total analysis systems.
与传统的柱技术相比，微通道能够以更高的分辨率、更高的效率且更低的试剂消耗更快地分离分析物。不幸的是，在迈向完全集成的基于微通道的芯片实验室的道路上，一个障碍是预分离样品处理的集成。虽然在微通道中是可行的，但由于难以同时对多种试剂进行空间控制，这些步骤具有挑战性。相比之下，数字微流控（DMF）的另一种形式，即离散液滴在电极阵列上被操纵，非常适合进行顺序化学反应。在这里，我们报告了首个用于集成预处理反应和化学分离的数字通道混合微流控装置的开发。该装置被证明可用于对细胞裂解物中的氨基酸和伯胺进行芯片上标记，以及对肽标准品进行酶解，随后在微通道中进行分离。鉴于有无数应用需要预处理和化学分离，混合数字通道形式有潜力成为微全分析系统的一种强大新工具。
