Are you currently facing challenges with long experimental cycles, high sample consumption, and limited throughput in protein analysis? Creative Biolabs' Microfluidic Development Service for Western Blotting (μWB) Analysis helps you accelerate drug discovery, obtain high-quality protein data, and streamline your research processes through advanced microfluidic technology. We offer a miniaturized, automated, and high-throughput solution that overcomes the limitations of conventional Western blotting, providing faster, more sensitive, and highly reproducible results with minimal sample and reagent volume.
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Background
Western blotting, a cornerstone of molecular biology for protein detection, has long been challenged by its time-consuming, labor-intensive nature, and high sample and reagent requirements. These limitations are particularly acute in the context of modern high-throughput screening and diagnostics, where speed and miniaturization are paramount.
Microfluidics has emerged as a transformative technology, enabling the manipulation of minute fluid volumes in micro-scale channels. By integrating key Western blotting steps onto a single microfluidic chip, μWB addresses the inherent drawbacks of its conventional counterpart. This technology combines the principles of electrophoretic separation with in-situ immunodetection, all within a compact, automated platform.
Fig. 1 Western blot workflow.Distributed under CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wiki, without modification.
Key advancements in this field include the development of systems that perform protein separation, immobilization, and antibody probing on-chip, eliminating the manual, often inefficient, transfer step. This miniaturization not only reduces assay time from hours to minutes but also drastically cuts down on the sample and antibody consumption. The integration of multiplexing capabilities further enhances its value, allowing for the simultaneous analysis of multiple proteins or samples, a critical feature for systems biology and biomarker studies. The published literature supports these advancements, demonstrating improved analytical performance, including high sensitivity and wide dynamic range.
Features and Benefits
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Miniaturized System: Our miniaturized system reduces sample and reagent consumption, conserving valuable resources and lowering costs.
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Automated Workflow: Automation streamlines the process, minimizing manual error and improving data consistency and reproducibility.
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High Throughput Capability: The platform's high throughput allows for simultaneous analysis of multiple samples, accelerating large-scale screening and discovery.
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Faster Processing Times: The microfluidic design provides rapid separation and detection, shortening the overall processing time for quicker data acquisition.
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Enhanced Sensitivity: The technology offers enhanced sensitivity to detect low-abundance proteins often missed by traditional methods, ensuring more comprehensive analysis.
Applications
The versatility and efficiency of microfluidic Western blotting open up new possibilities across a wide range of scientific and clinical applications:
Drug Discovery & Development
High-throughput screening of potential drug targets, validating knockdown/knockout efficiency, and analyzing protein-protein interactions.
Biomarker Discovery & Validation
Identifying and validating disease-specific biomarkers in small-volume clinical samples, such as patient plasma or serum.
Cell Signaling & Pathway Analysis
Quantifying changes in protein phosphorylation and expression to map complex signaling networks within cells, particularly useful in oncology and neuroscience.
Clinical Diagnostics
Developing miniaturized diagnostic assays for the rapid detection of disease markers from minimal patient samples, paving the way for point-of-care testing.
Single-Cell Proteomics
Our technology can be adapted for single-cell analysis, providing insights into cellular heterogeneity in cancer research and stem cell biology.
What We Can Offer
Creative Biolabs provides a comprehensive suite of products and services to support your microfluidic Western blotting needs, from device fabrication to complete, one-stop solutions.
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Microfluidic Chip Fabrication: We design and fabricate custom microfluidic chips tailored to your specific assay requirements.
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Microfluidic Development Service for Western Blotting (μWB) Analysis: Our core service offers a complete, end-to-end solution for your protein analysis needs, delivering high-quality, quantitative results.
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One-Stop Microfluidic Solution: We provide a fully integrated service that includes assay design, chip fabrication, sample processing, data analysis, and technical support.
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Instrumentation and Platform Integration: We can assist you in integrating our microfluidic chips with your existing laboratory equipment for a seamless workflow.
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Microfluidic Chip Products: We offer a range of pre-fabricated, ready-to-use microfluidic chips for various applications.
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Workflow
Why Choose Us
Creative Biolabs' μWB service leverages cutting-edge technology and extensive expertise to provide a superior solution for protein analysis. Our platform is designed for efficiency, reproducibility, and precision, helping you overcome the limitations of conventional methods.
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Reduced Sample and Reagent Consumption: Our microfluidic platform requires significantly smaller volumes (nanoliters to picoliters), reducing the need for costly reagents and precious biological samples.
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Rapid Analysis Time: The entire μWB process, from separation to detection, can be completed in under an hour, a dramatic improvement over the multi-day workflow of traditional Western blotting.
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High Throughput and Multiplexing: Our system allows for the parallel analysis of multiple samples and the simultaneous detection of several proteins from a single sample, accelerating large-scale screening projects.
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Superior Quantitation and Reproducibility: On-chip analysis and automated fluid handling eliminate manual variability, leading to more consistent and reliable quantitative data.
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Enhanced Sensitivity: Our technology offers femtogram-level mass sensitivity, enabling the detection of low-abundance proteins that might be missed by conventional methods.
Published Data
Fig 2. Schematic of a hybrid microfluidic platform (DropBlot).1,3
Published research on single-cell Western blotting, using a hybrid microfluidic platform called DropBlot, demonstrates a highly effective method for protein detection in chemically fixed cells. This investigation effectively unified compartmentalized microdroplet antigen recovery with on-chip immunoblotting to profile individual cells. The system demonstrated resilience under stringent conditions, encompassing elevated temperatures and potent denaturing agents (SDS, urea). Experimental outcomes confirmed efficient protein-target retrieval from non-fixed, PFA-fixed, and methanol-preserved cells. It confirmed sufficient immunoreactivity for key targets like HER2, GAPDH, EpCAM, and Vimentin. The platform's high resolution allowed for the detection of multiple proteoforms, a significant strength over other methods. Notably, the technology successfully performed antigen retrieval from PFA-fixed human-derived breast tumor specimens that had been archived frozen for over six years. This validation of performance on real-world clinical samples demonstrates the platform's potential for analyzing precious biospecimen repositories, streamlining the use of archived tissues for translational research and protein-biomarker mining.
FAQs
Q: How does on-chip protein separation improve data quality and throughput?
A: On-chip electrophoresis and immunodetection eliminate the need for manual gel casting, protein transfer, and membrane handling. This integrated process drastically reduces the total assay time and removes sources of manual variability. By automating these steps, the system provides more consistent, quantitative data, and enables the parallel processing of multiple samples, significantly increasing throughput for large-scale studies.
Q: What are the key advantages of using a microfluidic platform for protein analysis over conventional methods?
A: Microfluidic platforms offer several key advantages: a dramatic reduction in sample and reagent consumption, faster analysis times (minutes vs. hours or days), and enhanced data reproducibility due to automation. This technology also provides superior quantitative results and can achieve femtogram-level sensitivity, making it ideal for detecting low-abundance proteins in precious or limited samples.
Q: Can this method be used for multiplexed protein analysis?
A: Yes, microfluidic platforms are highly suitable for multiplexing. A key feature of these systems is the ability to simultaneously analyze multiple protein targets within a single sample, or to screen a single protein across numerous samples, providing a comprehensive view of complex biological pathways with a minimal footprint.
Q: How does a microfluidic approach affect the detection of post-translational modifications?
A: The high resolution and sensitivity of microfluidic platforms allow for the precise detection and quantification of subtle shifts in protein size or charge, which are indicative of post-translational modifications like phosphorylation or glycosylation. The system's ability to conserve sample material also makes it ideal for studying these modifications in precious biological samples.
Q: What are the primary technical considerations when transitioning from traditional Western blotting to this microfluidic method?
A: The main considerations involve optimizing the initial sample preparation to be compatible with the microfluidic chip and selecting the appropriate antibodies for the on-chip immunodetection. The method is highly sensitive, so proper sample handling and validation are crucial to ensure accurate and reproducible results.
Creative Biolabs' Microfluidic Development Service for Western Blotting (μWB) Analysis provides a powerful and innovative solution to the challenges of traditional protein analysis. Our technology delivers faster, more sensitive, and highly reproducible results, reducing sample and reagent consumption while significantly increasing throughput. Partner with us to accelerate your research and streamline your workflow.
Featured Services
Feature Products
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CAT No
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Material
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Product Name
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Application
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MFCH-001
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Glass
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Herringbone Microfluidic Chip
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Processing samples and reagents in Nucleic acid analysis, blood Analysis, immunoassays and point-of-care diagnostics.
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MFMM-0723-JS12
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Glass
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Double Emulsion Droplet Chip
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Our double emulsion microfluidic chip, incorporating localized modifications and a classic flow-focusing structure, is specifically designed to generate stable and uniform double emulsion droplets.
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MFCH-005
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PDMS
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3D Cell Culture Chip-Neuron
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Neuron cell culture and study of axon transport, axon protein synthesis, axon damage/regeneration, signal transduction of axon to somatic signal.
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MFCH-009
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PDMS
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Synvivo-Idealized Co-Culture Network Chips (IMN2 radial)
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SynBBB 3D Blood Brain Barrier Model/SynRAM 3D Inflammation Model/SynTumor 3D Cancer Model/SynTox 3D Toxicology Model
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MFMM1-GJS4
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COC
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BE-Doubleflow Standard
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Studying circulating particles, cell interactions and simple organ on chip system construction.
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MFMM1-GJS6
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COC
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BE-Transflow Custom
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Used to construct cell interface or Air-Liquid interface (ALI) to study more complex culture systems.
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Click here to Explore our complete product catalog.
Consult our specialists for detailed insights and project-specific deliberations.
References
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Liu, Yang, and Amy E Herr. "DropBlot: single-cell western blotting of chemically fixed cancer cells." bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2023.09.04.556277. 6 Sep. 2023, https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.09.04.556277. Preprint.
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Fergola, Andrea et al. "Droplet Generation and Manipulation in Microfluidics: A Comprehensive Overview of Passive and Active Strategies." Biosensors vol. 15,6 345. 29 May. 2025, https://doi.org/10.3390/bios15060345
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Distributed under Open Access license CC BY 4.0, without modification.
