Droplet Microfluidics with Capillary Electrophoresis for Glycan Biomarker Analysis.

Several glycoproteins are validated biomarkers of various diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, chronic alcohol abuse, or congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG). In particular, CDG represent a group of more than 150 inherited diseases with varied symptoms affecting multiple organs. The distribution of glycans from target glycoprotein(s) can be used to extract information to help the diagnosis and possibly differentiate subtypes of CDG.

Lab-in-droplet: From glycan sample treatment toward diagnostic screening of congenital disorders of glycosylation.

We present in this study a new microfluidic droplet platform, named Lab-in-Droplet, for multistep glycoprotein sample treatment. Several operations are required for the sample treatment of a given glycoprotein to profile its N-glycans. In our case, all preparation steps for the analysis of N-glycans from glycoproteins could be realized in an automatic manner and without cross contamination.