533e Two Dimensional Simulation of Nonlinear Electrophoresis of Proteins and Experimental Demonstration in a Microfluidic Chip

Huanchun Cui1, Prashanta Dutta2, and Cornelius F. Ivory1. (1) Chemical Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99163, (2) Mechanical Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99163

This paper reports both the experimental application and two-dimensional simulation of nonlinear electrophoresis (ITP/IEF) of proteins in a microfluidic chip. A two-dimensional ITP model has been developed from a one-dimensional model and simulated using the Nernst-Planck equations. The concentration stacking and separation features of ITP are explored by simulations of three virtual proteins. Experiments of ITP demonstrated that a mixture of three fluorescent proteins were concentrated and stacked into three adjacent protein zones under a constant voltage of 100 V over a 2 cm long microchannel. The self-sharpening behavior of ITP zones dispersed by a T-junction was clearly demonstrated both by experiments and simulations. Two dimensional simulation of isoelectric focusing of proteins has been first developed by using existing solvers in Femlab. 8 carrier ampholytes which have pIs from pH 3 to pH 10 were employed in this simulation to generate a pH gradient of 3-10 in a 300micron x 2cm microchannel. Each ampholyte has three charge states of -1, 0 and 1 which are simulated as three individual components, but related to each other by finite reactions. A virtual protein with 7 charge states was simulated to demonstrate the characteristics of isoelectric focusing of proteins. Simulation revealed that increase of current density results in a stepwise pH gradient from pH 3 to pH 10 and more ampholytes would generate more linear pH gradient. The simulation also demonstrated that the protein is being focused via the well-known double-peak approach to its pI position. Experiments of IEF demonstrated that several fluorescent proteins were focused in a 2 cm long microchannel in 3-10 min using broad-range ampholytes at electric field strengths ranging from 25 to 100 V/cm.