Hybridization enhancement using microfluidic planetary centrifugal mixing.

DNA microarrays produce their greatest sensitivities when hybridized using concentrated samples and effective mixing; however, these goals have proved elusive to combine. If samples are diluted enough to fill larger chambers, then mixing works well using either pumping or gravity with rotation, although sensitivities will suffer. Various techniques for mixing concentrated samples in small thin chambers have been proposed; however, they often leave streaks or scars, and their reusable components require careful cleaning. Here we introduce a versatile new microfluidics platform, a two-axis centrifuge whose fluidic chambers rotate in a planetary relationship to a radial gravitational field. This paradigm readily overcomes surface and viscous forces even in chambers only 50 microm thin. Thin chambers obviate the need for sample dilution and increase sensitivities and dynamic ranges 10-fold. In comparisons against conventional mixing using the same 10 microg of starting total RNA on 22 000-probe arrays, 10 000 more usable signals rose above the noise. In other experiments, planetary mixing was able to produce comparable results while using only one-tenth the starting sample. The benefits of planetary mixing include sample conservation, shorter hybridizations, less reliance on amplification, and the ability to quantify many gene signals otherwise obscured by noise.

Comparative analyses of a small molecule/enzyme interaction by multiple users of Biacore technology.

To gauge the experimental variability associated with Biacore analysis, 36 different investigators analyzed a small molecule/enzyme interaction under similar conditions. Acetazolamide (222 g/mol) binding to carbonic anhydrase II (CAII; 30000 Da) was chosen as a model system. Both reagents were stable and their interaction posed a challenge to measure because of the low molecular weight of the analyte and the fast association rate constant. Each investigator created three different density surfaces of CAII and analyzed an identical dilution series of acetazolamide (ranging from 4.1 to 1000 nM). The greatest variability in the results was observed during the enzyme immobilization step since each investigator provided their own surface activating reagents. Variability in the quality of the acetazolamide binding responses was likely a product of how well the investigators' instruments had been maintained. To determine the reaction kinetics, the responses from the different density surfaces were fit globally to a 1:1 interaction model that included a term for mass transport. The averaged association and dissociation rate constants were 3.1+/-1.6 x 10(6)M(-1)s(-1) and 6.7+/-2.5 x 10(-2)s(-1), respectively, which corresponded to an average equilibrium dissociation constant (K(D) of 2.6+/-1.4 x 10(-8)M. The results provide a benchmark of variability in interpreting binding constants from the biosensor and highlight keys areas that should be considered when analyzing small molecule interactions.