Efficient proteolysis strategies based on microchip bioreactors

► This review focuses on the advances of microchip bioreactors in proteolysis.
► Various strategies have been developed to immobilize proteases in microchips.
► Proteolysis in microchip bioreactors can accomplish within 4 s to several minutes.
► The consumption of samples and reagents has been significant reduced.
► Microchip bioreactors will find wide applications in proteomics research.

In proteome research, proteolysis is an important procedure prior to the mass spectrometric identification of proteins. The typical time of conventional in-solution proteolysis is as long as several hours to half a day. To enhance proteolysis efficiency, a variety of microchip bioreactors have been developed for the rapid digestion and identification of proteins in the past decade. This review mainly focuses on the recent advances and the key strategies of microchip bioreactors in protein digestion. The subjects covered include microchip proteolysis systems, the immobilization of proteases in microchannels, the applications of microchip bioreactors in highly efficient proteolysis, and future prospects. It is expected that microchip bioreactors will become powerful tools in protein analysis and will find a wide range of applications in high-throughput protein identification.

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