(456b) A Microfluidic Device for Physical Extraction of Intracellular Proteins from Bacterial Cells

The analysis of intracellular proteins from bacterial cells typically requires a cell population of ~1000 or more due to the small cell size. Effective combination of concentration and lysis steps is desired for such analysis to be carried out on a microfluidic platform. In here, we report a simple microfluidic device that integrates the capture of the bacterial cells using a microscale bead array and the rapid electrical lysis for the release of intracellular proteins. We study the retention of Escherichia coli cells with different concentrations in this type of bead array and the optimal electrical parameters for the electroporative release of intracellular proteins. The bead array can be replaced after each run and this allows the device to be used for multiple times. Our design provides a simple solution to the extraction of intracellular proteins from a bacterial cell population based entirely on physical methods without applying chemical or biological reagents. Our device forms a critical basis for bacterial proteomic studies based on microfluidics.