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Automated Robotic Liquid Handling Assembly of Modular DNA Devices

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Published on: December 1, 2017

Effect of liquid-handling accuracy on assay performance.

Nathaniel G Hentz¹, Tanya R Knaide

¹1North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.

Journal of Laboratory Automation

|September 14, 2013

Summary

Accurate liquid handling is crucial for reliable biochemical assay results. Even minor volume variations can impact potency measurements, leading to erroneous scientific data.

Keywords:

Liquid-handling variability assay performance high-throughput screening quality control

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Area of Science:

Biochemistry
Assay Development
Laboratory Automation

Background:

Accurate liquid handling is fundamental for reproducible biochemical assay results.
Variability in liquid handling can significantly affect assay performance and data interpretation.
Understanding the impact of liquid handling precision is critical for in vitro diagnostics and drug discovery.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate the impact of liquid handling accuracy and precision on biochemical assay performance.
To investigate how small, deliberate changes in assay volume delivery affect protein binding and enzyme assays.
To quantify the effect of liquid handling variability on key assay performance metrics.

Main Methods:

Assessed liquid handling performance using two distinct in vitro biochemical assays: streptavidin binding and α-galactosidase enzyme assays.
Systematically altered assay component volumes to determine the effect on protein binding and enzyme activity.
Measured the impact of liquid handling variability on inhibitor potency (IC50), Z-factor, signal-to-background ratio, and overall assay variability.

Main Results:

Small variations in assay component volumes were detectable through changes in inhibitor potency (IC50).
Assay variability metrics, such as Z-factor, did not consistently reflect these small volume changes.
Demonstrated that a miscalibrated liquid handler can introduce significant errors into assay data.

Conclusions:

Optimization of liquid handling accuracy and precision is essential for robust assay performance.
Potency measurements are sensitive indicators of liquid handling variability, whereas other metrics may be less so.
Highlights the critical need for regular calibration and validation of automated liquid handling systems in research and diagnostics.