96 Channel Continuous Flow Print head and Integrated Flow Cell System

描述（由申请人提供）：本项目的最终目标是拥有一台能够高通量、灵敏地研究G蛋白偶联受体（GPCR）的96通道表面等离子体共振（SPR）仪器。因此，Wasatch Microfluidics将与犹他州大学合作，将Wasatch的连续流动点样技术应用于生物分子，以创建直接与商业生物传感器阵列平台集成的流动池阵列。为了展示流动池技术的潜力，我们选择围绕GPCR的特别具有挑战性的应用开发系统。GPCR的研究具有挑战性，因为当从其天然膜环境中取出时，它们通常不稳定，并且通常以低水平表达。目前，流动池技术是高通量无标记传感技术发展的限制因素，该技术已被证明是研究GPCR的有力工具。将Wasatch Microfluidics Continuous Flow MicrospotterTM改造成高度平行的流动池，应该开始消除这一瓶颈，并为更高度平行的系统提供模板。本项目中进行的研究将特别帮助我们了解不同泵送技术之间的差异及其与流动池集成的能力。初步工作表明，流动池阵列可以将平庸的SPR成像仪器转换为具有高度竞争力的蛋白质分析仪器，与最先进的SPR仪器相比，其通量很低。我们还将了解流动池技术将如何影响表面等离子体共振（SPR）仪器的传感能力，并将开发优化的基线协议。最终结果将是96通道流动池，其将可扩展到高得多的通量（例如192、384和最终1536）。该流动池将是通用的，使得其将容易地与各种其他无标记感测技术集成。这项研究和开发工作的最终结果将是用于蛋白质打印和实时光学生物传感器技术的并行处理流体系统，将这些应用的实用性扩展了100倍。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The ultimate goal of this project is to have a 96 channel surface plasmon resonance (SPR) instrument capable of high-throughput, sensitive investigation of G-protein- coupled receptors (GPCRs). Accordingly, Wasatch Microfluidics will team with the University of Utah to adapt Wasatch's continuous flow spotting technique for biomolecules to create a flow cell array directly integrated with a commercial biosensor array platform. To demonstrate the potential of the flow cell technology, we have chosen to develop the system around the particularly challenging applications of GPCRs. GPCRs are challenging to study because they are typically unstable when removed from their native membrane environment and are often expressed at low levels. Currently, flow cell technology is the limiting factor in the development of high throughput label-free sensing technologies that have been shown to be powerful tools in studying GPCRs. Modification of Wasatch Microfluidics Continuous Flow MicrospotterTM into a highly parallel flow cell should begin to eliminate this bottleneck and provide a template for even more highly parallel systems. The research performed in this project will specifically help us understand the differences between different pumping technologies and their ability to be integrated with the flow cell. Preliminary work suggests that a flow cell array can convert mediocre SPR imaging instruments into highly competitive protein analysis instruments comparable to state-of-the-art SPR instruments with meager throughput. We will also develop an understanding of how the flow cell technology will impact the sensing capabilities of a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) instrument and an optimized baseline protocol will be developed. The end result will be a 96 channel flow cell, which will be scalable to much higher throughputs (for example to 192, 384 and eventually 1536). This flow cell will be generic such that it will be easily integrated with a variety of other label free sensing technologies. The end result of this research and development effort will be a parallel processing fluidic system for protein printing and real-time optical biosensor technology that expands the utility of these applications by 100-fold.