title: The application of microbeads to microfluidic systems for enhanced detection and purification of biomolecules.
abstract: This paper describes microbead-based microfluidic systems. Several aspects of bead assays in microfluidics make them advantageous for bioassays in simple microchannels, including enhanced surface-to-volume ratio, improved molecular recognition reaction efficiency, and the wide range of surface functionalization available with commercial microbeads. Two-level SU-8 molds are used to fabricate PDMS microchannels that can hydrodynamically trap different types of microbeads, with characteristic dimensions of tens of microns. The use of these microbead-based microfluidic systems in the biosensing of antibodies, toxins and nucleic acids, as well as in antibody purification will be presented and discussed in this paper.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores - Microsistemas e Nanotecnologias (INESC MN) and IN - Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Lisbon, Portugal; iBB - Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: I F
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores - Microsistemas e Nanotecnologias (INESC MN) and IN - Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: C R F
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Caneira
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores - Microsistemas e Nanotecnologias (INESC MN) and IN - Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Lisbon, Portugal; iBB - Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: R R G
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores - Microsistemas e Nanotecnologias (INESC MN) and IN - Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Madaboosi
authors.affiliation: iBB - Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal; Department of Bioengineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Aires-Barros
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores - Microsistemas e Nanotecnologias (INESC MN) and IN - Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Lisbon, Portugal; Department of Bioengineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Conde
authors.affiliation: iBB - Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal; Department of Bioengineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Azevedo
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores - Microsistemas e Nanotecnologias (INESC MN) and IN - Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Lisbon, Portugal. Electronic address: vchu@inesc-mn.pt.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chu
mesh_terms: D000906:Antibodies / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes / Q000737:chemistry; D004867:Equipment Design; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008863:Microspheres; D009183:Mycotoxins / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009696:Nucleic Acids / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D009183:Mycotoxins; D009696:Nucleic Acids; C013830:baysilon
keywords: Antibodies; Biosensing; Microbeads; Microfluidics; Mycotoxins; Nucleic acids