Microfluidic techniques will lead to high-throughput protein profiling within a decade, suggest scientists.

Aaron Wheeler and Sergio Freire from the University of Toronto, Canada, have looked at the future of proteomics, the study of all the proteins coded by the genome, in the light of existing microfluidics technologies. 

Currently, most protein profiles are generated through a series of steps which can take many days to perform. Wheeler and Freire looked towards their specialism, microfluidics, for a solution and describe microfluidics and protein profiling as a 'natural fit.' 

Proteomics has become an increasingly popular research topic, said Wheeler, and its 'increasing importance has not been accompanied by a corresponding improvement in analytical tools.' Whilst genomics, the study of the entire genome, has a wide range of high-throughput techniques associated with it, proteomics still relies heavily on low-throughput techniques. 

The reasons for this are manifold, explained Wheeler. Samples can contain a vast number of proteins, some of which are structurally similar but functionally different. Also, there is often a large difference between the concentrations of the least and most abundant proteins and the varying properties of the proteins mean that experimental conditions cannot be standardised. Wheeler and Freire suggest that microfluidics can reduce reagent consumption and decrease analysis time by integrating multiple processes. 

Whilst there are still hurdles to overcome, the scientists conclude that microfluidic tools for high-throughput proteomics will be a reality in the near future. Larry Kricka, of the University of Pennsylvania, US, agrees that 10 years is a realistic timeframe, adding, 'microfluidics and the associated microminiaturisation technologies represent one of the most promising directions in analysis.'

Laura Howes