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Plastic microchip electrophoresis for analysis of PCR products of hepatitis C virus
Y H Chen1, W C Wang, K C Young
1Department of Chemistry, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan.
Background:
Electrophoresis on polymeric rather than glass microstructures is a promising separation method for analytical chemistry. Assays on such devices need to be explored to allow assessment of their utility for the clinical laboratory.
Methods:
We compared capillary and plastic microchip electrophoresis for clinical post-PCR analysis of hepatitis C virus (HCV). For capillary electrophoresis (CE), we used a separation medium composed of 10 g/L hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose in Tris-borate-EDTA buffer and 10 micromol/L intercalating dye. For microchip electrophoresis, the HCV assay established on the fused silica tubing was transferred to the untreated polymethylmethacrylate microchip with minimum modifications.
Results:
CE resolved the 145-bp amplicon of HCV in 15 min. The confidence interval of the migration time was <3.2%. The same HCV amplicon was resolved by microchip electrophoresis in <1.5 min with the confidence interval of the migration time <1.3%.
Conclusion:
The polymer microchip, with advantages that include fast processing time, simple operation, and disposable use, holds great potential for clinical analysis.