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Compact, cost-efficient microfluidics-based stopped-flow device

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Abstract

Stopped-flow technology is frequently used to monitor rapid (bio)chemical reactions with high temporal resolution, e.g., in dynamic investigations of enzyme reactions, protein interactions, or molecular transport mechanisms. However, conventional stopped-flow devices are often overly complex, voluminous, or costly. Moreover, excessive amounts of sample are often wasted owing to inefficient designs. To address these shortcomings, we propose a stopped-flow system based on microfluidic design principles. Our simple and cost-efficient approach offers distinct advantages over existing technology. In particular, the use of injection-molded disposable microfluidic chips minimizes required sample volumes and associated costs, simplifies handling, and prevents adverse cross-contamination effects. The cost of the system developed is reduced by an order of magnitude compared with the cost of commercial systems. The system contains a high-precision valve system for fluid control and features automated data acquisition capability with high temporal resolution. Analyses with two well-established reaction kinetics yielded a dead time of approximately 8-9 ms.

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Notes

  1. A PMMA 7 N layer of 2 mm blocks approximately 50% of the light at 280 nm. The optical path through the chip material has a length of 1 mm before plus 1 mm after the detection cell.

  2. The reaction was set up following a protocol described in [19] for the labeling of alanine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Mikrotechnik Mainz GmbH (IMM), Carl-Zeiss-Str. 18-20, 55129, Mainz, Germany

    Regina Bleul, Marion Ritzi-Lehnert, Julian Höth, Nico Scharpfenecker, Ines Frese, Dominik Düchs, Sabine Brunklaus, Thomas E. Hansen-Hagge & Klaus S. Drese

  2. Hochschule Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstr. 12, 64287, Darmstadt, Germany

    Regina Bleul & Franz-Josef Meyer-Almes

Authors
  1. Regina Bleul
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  2. Marion Ritzi-Lehnert
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  3. Julian Höth
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  4. Nico Scharpfenecker
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  5. Ines Frese
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  6. Dominik Düchs
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  7. Sabine Brunklaus
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  8. Thomas E. Hansen-Hagge
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  9. Franz-Josef Meyer-Almes
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  10. Klaus S. Drese
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Correspondence to Marion Ritzi-Lehnert.

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Bleul, R., Ritzi-Lehnert, M., Höth, J. et al. Compact, cost-efficient microfluidics-based stopped-flow device. Anal Bioanal Chem 399, 1117–1125 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-010-4446-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-010-4446-5

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