Using nanoliter plugs in microfluidics to facilitate and understand protein crystallization

Protein crystallization is important for determining protein structures by X-ray diffraction. Nanoliter-sized plugs - aqueous droplets surrounded by a fluorinated carrier fluid - have been applied to the screening of protein crystallization conditions. Preformed arrays of plugs in capillary cartridges enable sparse matrix screening. Crystals grown in plugs inside a microcapillary may be analyzed by in situ X-ray diffraction. Screening using plugs, which are easily formed in PDMS microfluidic channels, is simple and economical, and minimizes consumption of the protein. This approach also has the potential to improve our understanding of the fundamentals of protein crystallization, such as the effect of mixing on the nucleation of crystals.