Compartmentalised screening by microfluidic control

• US 20070092914A1
• Filed: 12/04/2006
• Published: 04/26/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Medical Research Council (Government of United Kingdom), President and Fellows of Harvard College (Harvard Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Harvard University
• Inventors: Link, Darren, Weitz, David, Griffiths, Andrew, Ahn, Keunho, Bibette, Jerome
• Application Number:
  US11/633,849
• Publication Number:
  US 20070092914A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 435/7.1
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 23/41 Emulsifying
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 23/4143 Microemulsions
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 23/4145 Emulsions of oils, e.g. fuel, and water
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 25/23 Mixing by intersecting jets
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 25/433 Mixing tubes wherein the shape of the tube influences the mixing, e.g. mixing tubes with varying cross-section or provided with inwardly extending profiles
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 25/4331 Mixers with bended, curved, coiled, wounded mixing tubes or comprising elements for bending the flow
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 25/4338 Mixers with a succession of converging-diverging cross-sections, i.e. undulating cross-section
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 33/3011 using a sheathing stream of a fluid surrounding a central stream of a different fluid, e.g. for reducing the cross-section of the central stream or to produce droplets from the central stream
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 33/3021 the components to be mixed being combined in a single independent droplet, e.g. these droplets being divided by a non-miscible fluid or consisting of independent droplets
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 33/3031 using electro-hydrodynamic [EHD] or electro-kinetic [EKI] phenomena to mix or move the fluids
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 19/0046 Sequential or parallel reactions, e.g. for the synthesis of polypeptides or polynucleotides; Apparatus and devices for combinatorial chemistry or for making molecular arrays synthesis methods per se C40B50/00
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00576 fluorophore
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00596 Solid-phase processes
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00599 Solution-phase processes
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00657 One-dimensional arrays
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00664 Three-dimensional arrays
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00666 One-dimensional arrays within three-dimensional arrays
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00702 Processes involving means for analysing and characterising the products
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2200/0647 Handling flowable solids, e.g. microscopic beads, cells, particles
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2200/0652 Sorting or classification of particles or molecules
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2200/0673 : Handling of plugs of fluid surrounded by immiscible fluid
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2300/0816 : Cards, e.g. flat sample carriers usually with flow in two horizontal directions
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2300/0864 : comprising only one inlet and multiple receiving wells, e.g. for separation, splitting
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2300/0867 : Multiple inlets and one sample wells, e.g. mixing, dilution
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2400/0406 : capillary forces
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2400/0415 : electrical forces, e.g. electrokinetic
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2400/0487 : fluid pressure, pneumatics
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 3/502761 : specially adapted for handling suspended solids or molecules independently from the bulk fluid flow, e.g. for trapping or sorting beads, for physically stretching molecules investigating characteristics of particles G01N15/00
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 3/502784 : specially adapted for droplet or plug flow, e.g. digital microfluidics automatic analysis using a stream of discrete samples in a tube system G01N35/08
• CPC Class Codes: C12Q 1/42 : involving phosphatase
• CPC Class Codes: C12Q 2563/159 : Microreactors, e.g. emulsion PCR or sequencing, droplet PCR, microcapsules, i.e. non-liquid containers with a range of different permeability's for different reaction components
• CPC Class Codes: C12Q 2565/119 : based on extraction of label to an organic phase, i.e. partitioning of label between different organic phases
• CPC Class Codes: C40B 50/08 : Liquid phase synthesis, i.e. wherein all library building blocks are in liquid phase or in solution during library creation; Particular methods of cleavage from the liquid support
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 15/14 : Optical investigation techniques, e.g. flow cytometry
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 15/149 : specially adapted for sorting particles, e.g. by their size or optical properties
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2021/6439 : with indicators, stains, dyes, tags, labels, marks
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/6428 : Measuring fluorescence of fluorescent products of reactions or of fluorochrome labelled reactive substances, e.g. measuring quenching effects, using measuring "optrodes" in vivo A61B5/00; immunoassay G01N33/53
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2333/916 : acting on ester bonds (3.1), e.g. phosphatases (3.1.3), phospholipases C or phospholipases D (3.1.4)
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2500/04 : Screening involving studying the effect of compounds C directly on molecule A (e.g. C are potential ligands for a receptor A, or potential substrates for an enzyme A)
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2500/10 : involving cells
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/5008 : for testing or evaluating the effect of chemical or biological compounds, e.g. drugs, cosmetics
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/5044 : involving specific cell types
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/5432 : Liposomes or microcapsules
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/573 : for enzymes or isoenzymes

Abstract

The invention describes a method for the identification of compounds which bind to a target component of a biochemical system or modulate the activity of the target, comprising the steps of: a) compartmentalising the compounds into microcapsules together with the target, such that only a subset of the repertoire is represented in multiple copies in any one microcapsule; and b) identifying the compound which binds to or modulates the activity of the target; wherein at least one step is performed under microfluidic control. The invention enables the screening of large repertoires of molecules which can serve as leads for drug development.

Claims

1. A method for identifying a compound or compounds in a repertoire of compounds, which compound or compound(s) possess(es) a desired activity, comprising the steps of:

a) compartmentalising the compounds into microcapsules, such that only a subset of the repertoire is represented in multiple copies in any one microcapsule; and

b) identifying the compounds which possess the desired activity,

wherein one or both of steps a) and b) is performed under microfluidic control.

2. A method for preparing a compound, comprising the steps of:

(a) compartmentalising the compounds into microcapsules, such that only a subset of the repertoire is represented in multiple copies in any one microcapsule;

(b) identifying the compounds which possess the desired activity.

(c) identifying and producing the compound having the desired activity,

wherein one or more of steps a, b and c is performed under microfluidic control.

3. A method for preparing a compound, comprising the steps of:

(a) compartmentalising the compounds into microcapsules, such that only a subset of the repertoire is represented in multiple copies in any one microcapsule;

(b) identifying and, optionally, sorting the microcapsules which have contain the compound(s) having the desired activity using a change in their optical properties; and

(c) identifying and producing the compound having the desired activity.

4. A method for screening a compound or compounds capable of modulating the activity of a target, comprising the steps of:

(a) compartmentalising the compounds into microcapsules, such that only a subset of the repertoire is represented in multiple copies in any one microcapsule;

(b) identifying and, optionally, sorting the microcapsules which contain the compound(s) having the desired activity using a change in their optical properties; and

(c) contacting a target having a desired activity with the compound or compounds and monitoring the modulation of an activity of the target by the compound or compounds,

wherein one or more of steps a, b and c is performed under microfluidic control.

5. A method for preparing a target comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a synthesis protocol for a target wherein at least one step is facilitated by a compound;

(b) preparing variants of the compound which facilitates this step;

(c) compartmentalising the compounds into microcapsules, such that only a subset of the repertoire is represented in multiple copies in any one microcapsule;

(d) identifying and, optionally, sorting the microcapsules which contain the compound(s) having the desired activity using a change in their optical properties; and

(e) preparing the target using the compound identified in (d) to facilitate the relevant step of the synthesis,

wherein one or more of steps a to e is performed under microfluidic control.