Proposal Title: Integrated Multistage Iso-electric Focusing on a PDMS Microchip Proposal Number: CTS-0300802 Principal Investigator: Prashanta Dutta Institution: Washington State University
The objective of the proposed research is to implement multi-stage isoelectric focusing (IEF) in a poly-dimethlysiloxane (PDMS) chip platform coupled with an ultraviolet (UV) light detection system. The proposed IEF system will be used to fractionate proteins more quickly and with greater resolution. Staging allows the separation to be distributed across a multi-channel array. If the secondary stages can be run in parallel, it is expected that the process can be accelerated significantly. Microchannels will be fabricated from PDMS and tested on an optical bench using a UV detection system. Channels of increasingly complex geometry will be fabricated so that the fundamental elements required for staging can be sequentially tested and combined into an advanced chip design. One-dimensional models of the IEF system will be used to simulate the effects of channel turns, tees, and crosses so that the system can be optimized before these chips are fabricated. In terms of the broader impacts, this work may impact the field of proteomics, which has the potential to establish the link between gene expression and disease pathology. Both graduate and undergraduate students will be involved in this multidisciplinary project.
