Abstract

Microfluidic RT-qPCR for Point-of-Care Liver Toxicity Assessment

Geok Soon Lim, PhD Student, Nanyang Technological University

In this presentation, we describe the design, assembly and characterization of an integrated Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC) system modified from the open-source OpenPCR© (Chai Biotechnologies, USA) platform using opportunistic prototyping. This polymeric integrated LOC system would embody microfluidic RT-PCR and real-time fluorescence detection for point-of-care liver toxicity assessment. Microfluidic Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) was be performed on this LOC system to demonstrate the potential for a point-of-care testing (POCT) liver diagnostic device, using mRNA primers based on the protein biomarkers used in traditional Liver Function Tests. Specifically, multiplex microfluidic RT-PCR was performed in a PMMA microfluidic chip, followed by real-time fluorescence detection using SYBR Green 1 fluorescence dye. Our results demonstrate that the average concentrations of the two target mRNA sequences increased after a short-term drug treatment, and these results were consistent with those from conventional RT-qPCR. In short, we herein demonstrate our integrated Lab-on-a-Chip system as a proof-of-principle for a viable POCT liver toxicity assessment.