A microdevice assisted approach for the preparation, characterization and selection of continuous aqueous two-phase systems: from micro to bench-scale.
Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) have emerged as an alternative strategy for the recovery and purification of a wide variety of biological products. Typical process development requires a large screening of experimental conditions towards industrial adoption where continuous processes are preferred. In this work, it was proved that under certain flow conditions, ATPS could be formed continuously inside a microchannel, starting from stocks of phase components. Staggered herringbone chaotic micromixers included within the device sequentially and rapidly prepare two-phase systems across an entire range of useful phase compositions. Two-phase diagrams (binodal curves) were easily plotted using the cloud-point method for systems of different components and compared with previously reported curves for each system, proving that phase formation inside the device correlated with the previously reported diagrams. A proof of concept for sample partitioning in such a microdevice was performed with two different experimental models: BSA and red blood cells. Finally, the microdevice was employed to obtain information about the recovery and partition coefficient of invertase from a real complex mixture of proteins (yeast extract) to design a process for the recovery of the enzyme selecting a suitable system and composition to perform the process at bench-scale.
Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Ave. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, Monterrey, N.L. 64849, Mexico. alex.aguilar@itesm.mx.
Patricia
P
Vázquez-Villegas
Michael Smith Laboratories, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4 Canada.
Eric
E
Ouellet
Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Ave. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, Monterrey, N.L. 64849, Mexico. alex.aguilar@itesm.mx.
Claudia
C
González
Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Ave. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, Monterrey, N.L. 64849, Mexico. alex.aguilar@itesm.mx.
Federico
F
Ruiz-Ruiz
Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Ave. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, Monterrey, N.L. 64849, Mexico. alex.aguilar@itesm.mx.
Marco
M
Rito-Palomares
Michael Smith Laboratories, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4 Canada.
Charles A
CA
Haynes
Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Ave. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, Monterrey, N.L. 64849, Mexico. alex.aguilar@itesm.mx.
Oscar
O
Aguilar
D005591:Chemical Fractionation / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D057166:High-Throughput Screening Assays / Q000295:instrumentation; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D043324:beta-Fructofuranosidase / Q000302:isolation & purification
D043324:beta-Fructofuranosidase