Development of a miniaturized analysis platform for quantitative and time-resolved high throughput-analysis of signaling kinetics in cancer cells

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In order to simulate and predict the therapy response of complex, intracellular signaling networks, an increase in data density for the development of computer models is a prime goal in systems biology and medicine. The aim of the present project is to sensitively and reproducibly quantify proteins with minimal sample and reagent consumption. To enable a high throughput, sample processing should be fast and automatable.In the first project phase, we developed a system for heterogeneous assays in droplet microfluid-ics. The transfer of heterogeneous immunoassays to a two-phase microfluidic system reduces sample consumption by a factor of at least 25 as compared to conventional immunoassays, while multiplying the number of technical replicates. This enhances the sample throughput by 200-1000 fold as compared to the state of the art (ELISA, immunoblot). In the second project phase, we aim to further enhance the sensitivity for the measurement of complex samples. Furthermore, we will develop the system for the automated measurement of patient samples as well as for time-resolved enzyme kinetics (microfluidic in vitro kinase assays).