Electrophoresis, Vol.32, No.8, 913-919, 2011
Capillary electrophoresis microchip for direct amperometric detection of DNA fragments
Detection and quantitation of nucleic acids have gained much importance in the last couple of decades, especially in the post-human genome project era. Such processes are tedious, time consuming and require expensive reagents and equipment. Therefore, in the present study, we demonstrated a simple process for the separation and analysis of small DNA fragments using capillary electrophoretic amperometric detection on an inexpensive disposable glass microchip. The device used polydimethylsiloxane engraved microchannel and Au/Ti in-channel microelectrodes for sample detection. The DNA fragments were separated under low electric field (20 V/cm) for improved detection sensitivity and to retain the biomolecules in their native conformation. With a low sample requirement (as low as 1 mu L) and high reproducibility, the proposed microchip device was successful in resolution and detection of DNA fragments of various lengths.
Keywords:Amperometric detection;Capillary electrophoresis;CE-AD microchip;DNA detection;Lab-on-a-chip