title: Enhancing protease activity assay in droplet-based microfluidics using a biomolecule concentrator.
abstract: We introduce an integrated microfluidic device consisting of a biomolecule concentrator and a microdroplet generator, which enhances the limited sensitivity of low-abundance enzyme assays by concentrating biomolecules before encapsulating them into droplet microreactors. We used this platform to detect ultralow levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) from diluted cellular supernatant and showed that it significantly (~10-fold) reduced the time required to complete the assay and the sample volume used.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 36-841, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Chia-Hung
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Aniruddh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.forename: Yong-Ak
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Miles A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Sung Jae
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Linda G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Griffith
authors.forename: Douglas A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Lauffenburger
authors.forename: Jongyoon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000201:enzymology; D020782:Matrix Metalloproteinases / Q000032:analysis*; D051379:Mice; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D020782:Matrix Metalloproteinases