Construction of biochemical analytical systems using the microchip technology

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Biochemical analytical systems using microchip technology were developed. In the field of environmental analyses, analytical systems for steroid hormones in marine gastropods and for nitrite and sulfite in river were constructed. Analytical systems for bioactive compounds such as cytokines were also developed. An immunoassay microchip for TNF-α from mouse macrophages and a bioassay microchip for histamine from rat peritoneal mast cells were constructed.First, we developed a simple method for micro-fabrication on a glass plate by photolithography using a high viscosity photoresist as an etching mask and then the fabricated glass was used for the template of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchip. We also developed a novel fluorescence detection unit for microchip analyses.The analytical sensitivity for steroid hormones in marine gastropods, using the immunoassay microchip, was improved by one order of magnitude and the analysis time was reduced to one third, compared to the conventional ELISA method.In the allergic drug screening system for the detection of histamine released from mast cells, the number of the cells, required for the assay, was reduced to 1%, compared with conventional bulk systems and the real-time monitoring of the histamine release was achieved by the continuous flow of cell culture medium.Microbioassay system for an anti-cancer agent equipped with a microfluidic gradient mixer. The simultaneous gradient assay was conducted easily by simply flowing two fluids in microchannels. This system demonstrated that cell viability of a stomach cancer cell line changed according to the concentrations of an anti-cancer agent.