| 摘要 |
A microfluidic device for carrying out thermal assays comprises a conduit 3 where the temperature varies along the length of the conduit. Droplets 5 including the molecules to be tested, e.g. macromolecules, are dispensed into an immiscible carrier liquid in the conduit 3. By moving the carrier liquid these droplets 5 can be moved along the conduit 3, exposing the droplets and the molecules to changing temperatures. If the properties of the droplets are monitored, thermal assays can be performed. Frequently the molecules to be tested will be biological macromolecules, thus using static light scattering, fluorescent dyes, etc., the temperature at which a macromolecule denatures can be determined. This allows assays known as "thermal shift assays" (TSA) to be performed. The information obtained from TSAs can be used for binding studies, searching for ligands, stability studies, etc. |
