Integrated electrokinetically driven microfluidic devices with pH-mediated solid-phase extraction coupled to...

Area of Science:

• Microfluidics
• Analytical Chemistry
• Biomarker Detection

Background:

• Automation in microfluidics is crucial for efficient analysis.
• Preconcentration of low-abundance disease biomarkers is essential for rapid detection.
• Preterm birth (PTB) biomarker analysis requires sensitive and integrated methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an integrated microfluidic device for biomarker enrichment and separation.
• To utilize pH-mediated solid-phase extraction (SPE) for preterm birth biomarker analysis.
• To combine SPE with microchip electrophoresis for enhanced analytical performance.

Main Methods:

• Developed a microfluidic device with a reversed-phase octyl methacrylate monolith for SPE.
• Optimized SPE elution using varying pH and ionic concentrations.
• Integrated the SPE module with microchip electrophoresis for simultaneous enrichment and separation.

Main Results:

• Achieved nearly 50-fold enrichment of a PTB peptide biomarker (P1) using single-channel SPE.
• Demonstrated high elution time reproducibility (<7% RSD) for the SPE process.
• Successfully enriched and separated a mixture of peptides with approximately 15-fold enrichment in the integrated device.

Conclusions:

• The developed microfluidic device enables efficient preconcentration and separation of biomarkers.
• This integrated platform shows significant progress towards automated electrokinetic analysis.
• The system holds promise for rapid analysis of low-abundance disease biomarkers.