Using nanoliter plugs in microfluidics to facilitate and understand protein crystallization

被引:144
作者
Zheng, B [1 ]
Gerdts, CJ [1 ]
Ismagilov, RF [1 ]
机构
[1] Univ Chicago, Dept Chem, Chicago, IL 60637 USA
关键词
D O I
10.1016/j.sbi.2005.08.009
中图分类号
Q5 [生物化学]; Q7 [分子生物学];
学科分类号
071010 ; 081704 ;
摘要
Protein crystallization is important for determining protein structures by X-ray diffraction. Nanoliter-sized plugs aqueous droplets surrounded by a fluorinated carrier fluid have been applied to the screening of protein crystallization conditions. Preformed arrays of plugs in capillary cartridges enable sparse matrix screening. Crystals grown in plugs inside a microcapillary may be analyzed by in situ X-ray diffraction. Screening using plugs, which are easily formed in PDMS microfluidic channels, is simple and economical, and minimizes consumption of the protein. This approach also has the potential to improve our understanding of the fundamentals of protein crystallization, such as the effect of mixing on the nucleation of crystals.
引用
收藏
页码:548 / 555
页数:8
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