Nanoliter microfluidic hybrid method for simultaneous screening and optimization validated with crystallization of membrane proteins.

ABSTRACT: High-throughput screening and optimization experiments are critical to a number of fields, including chemistry and structural and molecular biology. The separation of these two steps may introduce false negatives and a time delay between initial screening and subsequent optimization. Although a hybrid method combining both steps may address these problems, miniaturization is required to minimize sample consumption. This article reports a "hybrid" droplet-based microfluidic approach that combines the steps of screening and optimization into one simple experiment and uses nanoliter-sized plugs to minimize sample consumption. Many distinct reagents were sequentially introduced as approximately 140-nl plugs into a microfluidic device and combined with a substrate and a diluting buffer. Tests w

SUBMITTER: Li L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1748211 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature