Development of microfluidic blotting devices using alginate hydrogel

This paper proposes a concept of an easy-to-use microfluidic blotting device based on microscale electrophoresis. To realize the blotting assay with a simple experimental procedure, short analysis time, and high selectivity, an alginate hydrogel was used as amedium for a size-separation due to the molecular sieving effect and encapsulation of affinity ligands. In experimental, an alginate hydrogel was successfully generated in a microchannel by an electrokinetic introduction of Ca⁺. The formed hydrogels provided the size separation of UNA fragments and specitic separation based on the affinity interaction, suggesting the applicability of the alginate hydrogel to the proposed device.