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A parallelized microfluidic DNA bisulfite conversion module for streamlined methylation analysis

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Abstract

Aberrant methylation of DNA has been identified as an epigenetic biomarker for numerous cancer types. The vast majority of techniques aimed at detecting methylation require bisulfite conversion of the DNA sample prior to analysis, which until now has been a benchtop process. Although microfluidics has potential benefits of simplified operation, sample and reagent economy, and scalability, bisulfite conversion has yet to be implemented in this format. Here, we present a novel droplet microfluidic design that facilitates rapid bisulfite conversion by reducing the necessary processing steps while retaining comparable performance to existing methods. This new format has a reduced overall processing time and is readily scalable for use in high throughput DNA methylation analysis.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would also like to thank funding sources from National Institutes of Health (R01CA155305, U54CA151838, R21CA186809).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA

      Alejandro Stark, Kuangwen Hsieh & Tza-Huei Wang

    2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA

      Dong Jin Shin & Tza-Huei Wang

    3. Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA

      Thomas Pisanic II & Tza-Huei Wang

    Authors
    1. Alejandro Stark
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    2. Dong Jin Shin
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    3. Thomas Pisanic II
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    4. Kuangwen Hsieh
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    5. Tza-Huei Wang
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    Corresponding author

    Correspondence to Tza-Huei Wang.

    Additional information

    Alejandro Stark and Dong Jin Shin contributed equally to this work.

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    Stark, A., Shin, D.J., Pisanic, T. et al. A parallelized microfluidic DNA bisulfite conversion module for streamlined methylation analysis. Biomed Microdevices 18, 5 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-015-0029-8

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