Are you currently facing long drug development cycles, difficulty in screening large compound libraries, or challenges in obtaining precise kinetic data for enzyme-inhibitor interactions? Creative Biolabs' Microfluidic Development Service for Enzymes/Inhibitors Assay helps you accelerate drug discovery, obtain high-quality kinetic data, and streamline high-throughput screening through advanced microfluidic technology. We offer a miniaturized and highly controlled platform that significantly reduces reagent consumption and provides superior data resolution.
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Background
Microfluidics is a multidisciplinary field focused on the precise control of fluids at the sub-millimeter scale. For enzyme and inhibitor assays, this technology provides a transformative platform that overcomes the limitations of traditional methods. It enables the precise handling of minute sample volumes, rapid reaction times, and the integration of multiple assay steps onto a single "lab-on-a-chip," dramatically increasing throughput and cutting reagent costs. The ability to create controlled microenvironments makes it ideal for studying enzyme kinetics with exceptional resolution.
Enzymes are potent biological catalysts governing a vast array of physiological processes. Their utility extends to pharmaceuticals, food production, and biotechnology, where they can serve as therapeutic agents or drug targets. For example, IgA1 protease shows promise in a model of IgA nephropathy. Quantifying enzyme activity is also crucial for its role as a biomarker in diagnosing various medical conditions.
Fig.1 Droplet microfluidics of enzyme reaction.1,3
Microfluidic platforms, including 'lab-on-a-chip' and droplet methods, are now used for high-speed enzyme screening. These cost-effective chips support large libraries with a throughput capacity of up to 107 variants. A key advancement is the use of water-in-oil droplets with fluorescent-activated droplet sorting (FADS), which allows for measuring enzymatic activity within a wide array of systems, including those with lysed cells.
What We Can Offer
At Creative Biolabs, we offer a complete suite of services to support your microfluidic needs.
We specialize in the design and fabrication of custom microfluidic chips using various materials (e.g., PDMS, glass, thermoplastics) tailored to your specific application.
Our comprehensive service covers everything from initial consultation and chip design to system integration, assay optimization, and data analysis, providing a complete solution from a single provider.
We offer a selection of pre-fabricated, off-the-shelf microfluidic chips for a variety of common biological and chemical assays, providing a rapid solution for immediate research needs.
Automated Fluidic Systems
We develop and integrate automated fluidic control systems to ensure precise and reproducible sample handling, essential for high-throughput screening and complex assays.
Leverage our specialized benefits—Request a quotation today
Workflow
Why Choose Us
Creative Biolabs is a leader in microfluidic solutions, distinguished by our commitment to innovation and scientific excellence. Our team of experts leverages cutting-edge technology to provide you with a competitive advantage. We offer unparalleled precision, efficiency, and flexibility, ensuring your research is powered by the best tools available.
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Miniaturization: Our microfluidic platforms operate with fluid volumes in the nanoliter to picoliter range, reducing reagent consumption by orders of magnitude compared to conventional methods.
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High Throughput: The high degree of parallelism and automation in our systems allows for rapid screening of large compound libraries, significantly accelerating the hit-to-lead phase of drug discovery.
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Superior Control & Data Quality: Microfluidic systems enable precise control over reaction conditions, providing highly reproducible data and a deeper understanding of reaction kinetics.
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Customization: We don't offer a one-size-fits-all solution. Our service is fully customizable, from chip design to assay protocol, to meet the unique requirements of your project.
Published Data
Fig.2 Design and characterization of RuBisCO immobilized microfluidic reactors (RIMRs).2,3
In a compelling demonstration of microfluidic capabilities, a recent study detailed the creation of a system for the continuous, artificial synthesis of a glucose precursor. The experiment involved immobilizing the RuBisCO enzyme within a microfluidic reactor, a key step to mimic the natural photosynthesis pathway. The results of the experiment were remarkable, showing a significant enhancement in enzyme stability by factors of 7.2 for storage and 6.7 for thermal stability. Furthermore, the immobilized enzyme showcased exceptional reusability, retaining 90.4% of its activity after 5 cycles and 78.5% after 10 cycles. This groundbreaking work successfully achieved a continuous production rate of 13.8μmol g−1 RuBisCO min−1 for the glucose precursor, validating the microfluidic approach as an effective and stable platform for bio-catalysis.
FAQs
Q: What are the key technical advantages of microfluidic assays over conventional bulk assays?
A: The fundamental advantage of microfluidic assays lies in scaling down reactions to the microliter or nanoliter range. This miniaturization is not just about saving reagents; it fundamentally changes the physics of the reaction. Enhanced mass transfer allows for faster mixing and shorter reaction times. This, combined with precise environmental control, results in higher data resolution and reproducibility, which is often difficult to achieve in larger-scale plate assays.
Q: Can these platforms be used to analyze complex enzyme-inhibitor kinetics, beyond simple IC50 determination?
A: Yes. The superior control over reaction conditions on a microfluidic chip makes them ideal for in-depth kinetic studies. The ability to generate continuous concentration gradients or introduce reactants at precise flow rates allows for the real-time measurement of kinetic parameters. This level of detail is crucial for understanding the mode of inhibition, such as competitive, uncompetitive, or mixed-type, which is essential for rational drug design.
Q: How does an integrated microfluidic system simplify the biochemical assay workflow?
A: By integrating multiple steps—such as reagent mixing, incubation, and optical detection—onto a single chip, the system automates a complex, multi-step protocol. This minimizes manual pipetting and handling, which reduces the potential for human error and sample variability. This automation allows researchers to execute complex assays with greater efficiency and reproducibility, freeing up time to focus on data interpretation.
Q: What makes a "lab-on-a-chip" approach so powerful for biochemical screening?
A: The power of this approach lies in its ability to parallelize experiments. A single chip can contain hundreds or thousands of identical micro-reactors, each running a separate reaction. This high-throughput capability, combined with the minimal sample volume required for each reaction, allows for rapid screening of vast libraries of compounds or biomolecules. The small scale also enables the study of limited-volume or precious samples.
Q: What project characteristics indicate that microfluidic technology would be a good fit?
A: Microfluidic technology is particularly well-suited for projects that face specific technical challenges. These include scenarios where reagent consumption is a concern (e.g., working with expensive antibodies or rare proteins), where rapid screening of a large compound library is required, or where a deeper understanding of kinetic parameters and binding mechanisms is needed.
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-a-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 a 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.
For detailed inquiries regarding our offerings, reach out to our specialists.
References
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Hu, Shunyang, et al. "Advances in droplet-based microfluidic high-throughput screening of engineered strains and enzymes based on ultraviolet, visible, and fluorescent spectroscopy." Fermentation 10.1 (2023): 33. https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation10010033
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Zhu, Yujiao et al. "Continuous artificial synthesis of glucose precursor using enzyme-immobilized microfluidic reactors." Nature Communications vol. 10,1 4049. 6 Sep. 2019, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12089-6
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Distributed under Open Access license CC BY 4.0, without modification.
