Method of immobilizing biologically active molecules for assay purposes in a microfluidic format
First Claim
1. A method for immobilizing a biological molecule in a porous inorganic matrix, said method comprising:
- forming an aqueous composition comprising a ceramic oxide colloidal sol mixed with an acidified oxide salt solution;
adding to said composition an amount of the biological molecule in a physiologically acceptable-buffered solution, said aqueous composition becoming turbid on being transformed into a polymerizing hydroxide solution and transforming to a gel;
shaping the gel produced in step (b) into a final form; and
aging the gel;
wherein said biological molecule is entrapped within pores of the gel, and the activity of the biological molecule is retained.
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Abstract
The invention provides biological molecules entrapped within a sol-gel matrix and incorporated into a microanalytical device for high throughput screening of samples. The pore sizes of the matrix may be chosen to match the size of the entrapped biological molecule or to correspond in size with the sample molecules to be analyzed. The sol-gel may be formed into structures that can be incorporated into or onto the microanalytical devices as microcolumns, microchannels, and microarrays. The sol-gel may incorporate substituted silanes and thereby provide a hydrophobic or hydrophilic surface, thereby providing the potential for use in microchromatography, microelectrophoresis or combinations thereof on the microanalytical device. A preferred detection method of samples is mass spectrometry.
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Citations
59 Claims
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1. A method for immobilizing a biological molecule in a porous inorganic matrix, said method comprising:
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forming an aqueous composition comprising a ceramic oxide colloidal sol mixed with an acidified oxide salt solution;
adding to said composition an amount of the biological molecule in a physiologically acceptable-buffered solution, said aqueous composition becoming turbid on being transformed into a polymerizing hydroxide solution and transforming to a gel;
shaping the gel produced in step (b) into a final form; and
aging the gel;
wherein said biological molecule is entrapped within pores of the gel, and the activity of the biological molecule is retained. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 33, 34, 35, 36, 41, 42, 43)
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9. A method for immobilizing a biological molecule in a porous inorganic matrix, said method comprising:
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forming an aqueous composition comprising a ceramic oxide colloidal sol and a dissolved metal silicate mixed with an acidified oxide salt solution;
adding to said composition an amount of the biological material in a physiologically acceptable-buffered solution wherein the resulting aqueous composition has a pH ranging from about 6 to about 8.5, said aqueous composition becoming turbid on being transformed into a polymerizing hydroxide solution and transforming to a gel;
shaping the gel produced in step (b) into a final form; and
aging the gel;
wherein said biological molecule is entrapped within pores of the gel, and the activity of the biological molecule is retained. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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44. A method of preparing a microanalytical device, comprising forming a sol-gel comprising an entrapped biological molecule, crushing the sol-gel to particulates having a diameter of from about 10 82 m to about 80 μ
- m, and forming the sol-gel particulates into a bed within the microanalytical device or on the surface of the microanalytical device.
- View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 55)
- 45. A method of preparing a microanalytical device comprising forming a sol-gel comprising an entrapped biological molecule, wherein the form of said sol-gel is selected from the group consisting of a monolithic gel, thin film, or fiber and wherein the sol-gel is placed in or on the microanalytical device.
- 46. A method of using a microanalytical device comprising a sol-gel comprising an entrapped biological molecule, comprising applying an analyte sample to the bed, optionally applying additional buffer solution to the bed, and analyzing the eluant from the bed.
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57. In a microanalytical device comprised of a substrate and at least one feature selected from microchannels, microcolumns, and combinations thereof, the improvement which comprises incorporating into said at least one feature particulates of sol-gel having a diameter of from about 10 μ
- m to about 80 μ
m. - View Dependent Claims (59)
- m to about 80 μ
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58. In a microanalytical device comprised of a substrate and at least one feature selected from microchannels, microcolumns, and combinations thereof, the improvement which comprises incorporating into said at least one feature and/or onto a surface of the substrate a sol-gel having a biological molecule entrapped therein, wherein the sol-gel is in a form selected from the group consisting of a monolithic gel, a thin film, and a fiber.
Specification