Development of a Fast Microfluidic Mixer for Studies of Protein Folding KineticsFinal Report Cover Page

摘要

We designed and fabricated mixing devices that will help us elucidate the mechanisms of protein folding through measurements of folding reaction rates. These devices can be used in studying of other biological systems and are compatible with various spectroscopic observation methods. The project involved development of fabrication processes and setup of a laboratory for assembly and characterization of microfluidic devices, as well as measurements of protein folding kinetics. We produced three variants of the mixer: (1) The ultra fast mixer for Foerster Resonance Energy Transfer measurements (described by Anal. Chem. Article UCRL-JRNL-206676) and MicroTAS Conference Proceedings article (UCRL-JC-153057 ) included in the report; (2) The ultra fast mixer for UV measurements (described by the poster presented at MicroTAS conference (UCRL-POST-207476) included in the report); and (3) The mixer for single molecule measurements (described by the Science article UCRL-JC-153057) included in the report. In these mixers, the channels are narrow, ranging from a few to hundreds of {micro}m, so that the flow is laminar and all of the mixing is achieved through diffusion. Our goal is to develop robust microfluidic mixer with at least 100 times lower consumption rate, shorter dead time and time resolution than commercially available mixers that would be compatible with most commonly used spectroscopic methods. We are also developing mixers that can be used in combination with single molecule spectroscopy. The mixers are used to study kinetics of fast protein folding reactions using bulk fluorescence and single molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer techniques. Capabilities for microfluidic have been developed at BSNL that will be useful for studies of interactions of DNA with proteins and other projects such as the single molecule detector for detection of low concentration of toxins.