A phenomenological interpretation of open charm production at HERA in terms of the semi-hard approach

In the framework of the semi-hard (k_t-factorization) approach, we analyze the various charm production processes in the kinematic region covered by the HERA experiments.Comment: DESY 02-017, LUNFD6/(NFFL--7209) 200

Enhancing Protease Activity Assay in Droplet-Based Microfluidics Using a Biomolecule Concentrator

We introduce an integrated microfluidic device consisting of a biomolecule concentrator and a microdroplet generator, which enhances the limited sensitivity of low-abundance enzyme assays by concentrating biomolecules before encapsulating them into droplet microreactors. We used this platform to detect ultralow levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) from diluted cellular supernatant and showed that it significantly (~10-fold) reduced the time required to complete the assay and the sample volume used.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant GM68762)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant U54-CA112967)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01-EB010246)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01-GM081336)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Graduate Fellowship)United States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Cipher Program

The study of atmospheric ice-nucleating particles via microfluidically generated droplets

Ice-nucleating particles (INPs) play a significant role in the climate and hydrological cycle by triggering ice formation in supercooled clouds, thereby causing precipitation and affecting cloud lifetimes and their radiative properties. However, despite their importance, INP often comprise only 1 in 10³–10⁶ ambient particles, making it difficult to ascertain and predict their type, source, and concentration. The typical techniques for quantifying INP concentrations tend to be highly labour-intensive, suffer from poor time resolution, or are limited in sensitivity to low concentrations. Here, we present the application of microfluidic devices to the study of atmospheric INPs via the simple and rapid production of monodisperse droplets and their subsequent freezing on a cold stage. This device offers the potential for the testing of INP concentrations in aqueous samples with high sensitivity and high counting statistics. Various INPs were tested for validation of the platform, including mineral dust and biological species, with results compared to literature values. We also describe a methodology for sampling atmospheric aerosol in a manner that minimises sampling biases and which is compatible with the microfluidic device. We present results for INP concentrations in air sampled during two field campaigns: (1) from a rural location in the UK and (2) during the UK’s annual Bonfire Night festival. These initial results will provide a route for deployment of the microfluidic platform for the study and quantification of INPs in upcoming field campaigns around the globe, while providing a benchmark for future lab-on-a-chip-based INP studies

Intracellular protein determination using droplet-based immunoassays

This paper describes the implementation of a sensitive, on-chip immunoassay for the analysis of intracellular proteins, developed using microdroplet technology. The system offers a number of analytical functionalities, enabling the lysis of low cell numbers, as well as protein detection and quantification, integrated within a single process flow. Cells were introduced into the device in suspension and were electrically lysed in situ. The cell lysate was subsequently encapsulated together with antibody-functionalized beads into stable, water-in-oil droplets, which were stored on-chip. The binding of intracellular proteins to the beads was monitored fluorescently. By analyzing many individual droplets and quantifying the data obtained against standard additions, we measured the level of two intracellular proteins, namely, HRas-mCitrine, expressed within HEK-293 cells, and actin-EGFP, expressed within MCF-7 cells. We determined the concentrations of these proteins over 5 orders of magnitude, from 50 pM to 1 μM. The results from this semiautomated method were compared to those for determinations made using Western blots, and were found not only to be faster, but required a smaller number of cells

High-throughput microfluidics for the screening of yeast libraries

Cell factory development is critically important for efficient biological production of chemicals, biofuels, and pharmaceuticals. Many rounds of the Design–Build–Test–Learn cycles may be required before an engineered strain meeting specific metrics required for industrial application. The bioindustry prefer products in secreted form (secreted products or extracellular metabolites) as it can lower the cost of downstream processing, reduce metabolic burden to cell hosts, and allow necessary modification on the final products, such as biopharmaceuticals. Yet, products in secreted form result in the disconnection of phenotype from genotype, which may have limited throughput in the Test step for identification of desired variants from large libraries of mutant strains. In droplet microfluidic screening, single cells are encapsulated in individual droplet and enable high-throughput processing and sorting of single cells or clones. Encapsulation in droplets allows this technology to overcome the throughput limitations present in traditional methods for screening by extracellular phenotypes. In this chapter, we describe a protocol/guideline for high-throughput droplet microfluidics screening of yeast libraries for higher protein secretion. This protocol can be adapted to screening by a range of other extracellular products from yeast or other hosts

Micro-droplet based directed evolution outperforms conventional laboratory evolution

We present droplet adaptive laboratory evolution (DrALE), a directed evolution method used to improve industrial enzyme producing microorganisms for e.g. feedstock digestion. DrALE is based linking a desired phenotype to growth rate allowing only desired cells to proliferate. Single cells are confined in microfluidic droplets to prevent the phenotype, e.g. secreted enzymes, from leaking between cells. The method was benchmarked against and found to significantly outperform conventional adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) in enriching enzyme producing cells. It was furthermore applied to enrich a whole-genome mutated library of yeast cells for α-amylase activity

Droplet based directed evolution of yeast cell factories doubles production of industrial enzymes

We present a high throughput micro-droplet based method for directed evolution of yeast cell factories for improved production of industrial enzymes. The workflow includes a fluorescently activated droplet sorter which was found to accurately sort droplets with a false positive rate of 0.0002 at 300 Hz. The workflow was used to screen a library of α-amylase expressing yeast mutants. A candidate yeast strain with a more than twofold increase in α-amylase production was isolated from a single round of directed evolution

Droplet based directed evolution of yeast cell factories doubles production of industrial enzymes

We present a high throughput micro-droplet based method for directed evolution of yeast cell factories for improved production of industrial enzymes. The workflow includes a fluorescently activated droplet sorter which was found to accurately sort droplets with a false positive rate of 0.0002 at 300 Hz. The workflow was used to screen a library of α-amylase expressing yeast mutants. A candidate yeast strain with a more than twofold increase in α-amylase production was isolated from a single round of directed evolution