W0366

Science Issues Associated with the Use of a Microfluidic Chip Designed Specifically for Protein Crystallization. Anna M. Holmes¹, Lisa Monaco², Cindy Barnes³, Scott Spearing², Andy Jenkins², Todd Johnson⁴, Derek Mayer⁵, and Helen Cole⁶, ¹Univ. of Alabama-Huntsville, Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), SD46, MSFC, AL 35812, ²Morgan Research at MSFC, SD46, MSFC, AL 35812, ³Universities Space Research Association at MSFC, SD46, MSFC, AL 35812, ⁴Micro Craft at MSFC, ED22, MSFC, AL 35812, ⁵ASRI at MSFC, MSFC, AL 35812, ⁶NASA/MSFC, SD44, MSFC, AL 35812.

 

The Iterative Biological Crystallization (IBC) team in partnership with Caliper Technologies has produced a prototype microfluidic chip for batch crystallization that has been designed and tested. The chip is designed for the mixing and dispensing of up to five solutions with possible variation of the recipe being delivered to two growth wells. Developments that have led to the successful on-chip crystallization of a few model proteins have required investigative insight into many different areas, including fluid mixing dynamics, surface treatments, quantification and fidelity of reagent delivery. This presentation will encompass the ongoing studies and data accumulated toward these efforts.

Figure 1:Various glucose isomerase crystals grown in the reactors of the IBC protein crystallization chips.