Automated immunoassay system for AFP-L3% using on-chip electrokinetic reaction and separation by affinity electrophoresis

Anal Biochem. 2009 May 15;388(2):306-11. doi: 10.1016/j.ab.2009.02.030. Epub 2009 Feb 27.

Abstract

Implementation of the on-chip immunoassay for alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-L3% was achieved using a fully automated microfluidic instrument platform that will prepare the chip and run the assay with a total assay time of less than 10min. Reagent/sample mixing, concentration, and reaction in microfluidic channels occur by the electrokinetic analyte transport assay (EATA) technique, enabling the integration of all assay steps on-chip. The determination of AFP-L3%, a biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma, was achieved by the presence of Lens culinaris agglutinin in the separation channel, causing separation of the fucosylated isoform, AFP-L3, from the nonfucosylated AFP-L1 by lectin affinity electrophoresis. Laser-induced-fluorescence (LIF) detection was used to quantitate the labeled immunocomplexes. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.1ng/ml AFP, and assay precision of less than 2% coefficient of variation (CV) was obtained for quantitation from 24 to 922ng/ml total AFP in spiked serum samples. Assay precision of less than 3% CV was obtained for AFP-L3% measurements from 8.5 to 81%. Furthermore, good correlation of test results for 68 patient serum samples with a commercially available reference method (LiBASys assay for AFP-L3%) was obtained, with r(2)=0.981 and slope=1.03.

MeSH terms

  • Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / diagnosis
  • Electrophoresis / instrumentation
  • Electrophoresis / methods*
  • Humans
  • Immunoassay / instrumentation
  • Immunoassay / methods*
  • Microfluidic Analytical Techniques
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • alpha-Fetoproteins / analysis*

Substances

  • alpha-Fetoproteins