W0201

A Microfluidic Method for Protein Crystallization. Kyle Self, Carl L. Hansen*, James M. Berger**, Stephen R. Quake*, Susanna Ng, Shelley Godley, and Joseph Barco, *Dept. of Molecular and Cell Biology, Univ. of California, Berkeley, **Dept. of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, all others at Fluidigm Corporation.

Fluidigm Corporation has mastered fluidics at the micro-scale through miniature valves, pumps, and channels that act within a chip as fluidic circuitry. We fabricate this micro-circuitry using a proprietary process known as Multi-layer Soft Lithography—the MSL™ process. This elegant process enables a single chip to serve many functions. This versatility gives Fluidigm an unparalleled advantage in transforming microfluidics into integrated systems for protein crystallization.

Protein structure studies have been the province of the expert crystallographer—too esoteric and expensive for routine use in drug discovery and development. MSL™ microfluidics overcomes these obstacles by automating the mixing, pumping, and isolation of proteins and precipitating reagents. The protein sample requirements can be reduced to a few nanograms and mixed with 96 screening conditions, at three different concentrations, simultaneously. We will discuss how to use MSL™ microfluidics to scale protein structure studies and to generate crystals with miniscule amounts of purified protein.