A double-emulsion microfluidic platform for in vitro green fluorescent protein expression

Microfluidic droplet technology has gained popularity due to the advantages over conventional emulsion techniques and capabilities for a wide range of applications. In this paper, the development of a simple microfluidic-based double-emulsion system is reported. Such a system could be potentially used for in vitro protein synthesis. The system involves a two-step process to make water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) emulsions. A PMMA microchip is used for the formation of water-in-oil (W/O) single-emulsion droplets. Then, the single-emulsion droplets are transported to a PDMS/glass microchip to make the W/O/W double-emulsion droplets. The system was first characterized by detecting fluorescein sodium salt as a model dye in the internal aqueous droplets using laser-induced fluorescence. The effect of the flow rates of the internal aqueous phase and outer continuous aqueous phase on the formation of the double-emulsion droplets is investigated to provide information for system optimization. On-chip storage of double-emulsion droplets is also investigated to allow for protein synthesis from a PCR-generated DNA template using either commercial in vitro transcription and translation kits or crude Escherichia coli S30 extracts. In vitro expression of the green fluorescent protein is successfully demonstrated in this system.