Tuesday, 1 November 2005 - 10:00 AM
154h

Microchip Protein Separartion by Electric Field Gradient Focusing

Dimiter N. Petsev, Department of Chemical & Nuclear Engineering, UNM, 209 Farris Engineering Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, Gabriel P. Lopez, University of New Mexico, Dept. of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering, Albuquerque, NM 87131, Cornelius F. Ivory, Chemical Engineering, Washington State University, B43 EE/ME Building, P. O. Box 642710, Pullman, WA 99164, and Scott S. Sibbett, Chemical and Nuclear Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131.

A microfluidic chip is presented, which separates and focuses charged proteins based on variable electric field. The device operates by physical means involving the independent manipulation of the electrophoretic and electroosmotic forces and velocities in the channel. While electroosmosis is kept constant along the channel, the opposing electrophoretic force varies from one region to another. By this means, the net force on a given protein molecule becomes zero at a unique point while all other solutes are swept away. Like isoelectric focusing, this method concentrates separated molecules into spatially distinct bands. For injection-based methods of separation, the maximum separable quantity of solute is limited by the amount initially present in a single discrete injection plug. In contrast, the stationary zone method investigated here is capable in principle of continuous separation and accumulation up to steric and electrostatic limits. This is of potential benefit in the separation and detection of medically-important trace proteins and metabolites. In this report we present experimental results describing the separation of a binary mixture of bovine serum albumin and phycoerythrin utilizing a chip comprised of intersecting channels in PDMS inlaid with hollow fibers. The results are rationalized by theory and numerical simulations.

See more of #154 - Advances in Proteomic Analysis: Biomedical Applications (TA003)
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