Preterm Birth (PTB) is the leading cause of infant deaths worldwide and there are currently no tools to determine the risk of PTB. During my summer research experience at Brigham Young University I examined an integrated microfluidic system that is being developed to combine immunoaffinity extraction, electrophoretic separation and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection for analyzing a mixture of PTB protein and peptide biomarkers present in maternal blood serum. Devices were made through stereolithographic 3D printing of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate. I will discuss the fluorescent labeling and 3D printed microfluidic device operation optimization. Labeling conditions including buffer pH, were varied to improve efficiency of the fluorescent labeling of PTB biomarkers. Buffer concentration and voltage were varied to assess voltages that can be applied to the microfluidic system without causing damage. I found that pH is optimal for labeling amino acids with FITC, applying 300 V on a device with 50 mM CHES buffer works well for separation, and buffer evaporation needs to be mitigated when performing a separation. In the future, these devices and conditions can be used to develop a diagnostic tool for PTB.

REU summer examining 3D printed microfluidic devices for preterm birth risk biomarker analysis

2019 Fall National Meeting

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