Trends and challenges in microfluidic methods for protein manipulation-A review

Proteins are important molecules involved in an immensely large number of biological processes. Being capable of manipulating proteins is critical for developing reliable and affordable techniques to analyze and/or detect them. Such techniques would enable the production of therapeutic agents for the treatment of diseases or other biotechnological applications (e.g., bioreactors or biocatalysis). Microfluidic technology represents a potential solution to protein manipulation challenges because of the diverse phenomena that can be exploited to achieve micro- and nanoparticle manipulation. In this review, we discuss recent contributions made in the field of protein manipulation in microfluidic systems using different physicochemical principles and techniques, some of which are miniaturized versions of already established macro-scale techniques.

Automated summary

Proteins play a crucial role in many biological processes. Manipulating proteins is essential for developing effective techniques for their analysis and detection, which can have applications in various fields such as therapeutics and biocatalysis. Microfluidic technology offers a potential solution for protein manipulation by utilizing various physical and chemical principles and techniques, including miniaturized versions of existing macro-scale techniques.