Microfluidic on-chip microwave sensing of the self-assembly state of tubulin

Abstract

Self-assembly is at the heart of many promising nanoscience technologies as well as at the core of life processes. Tubulin proteins self-assemble into microtubules, tube-like structures that are essential in cellular functions such as cell division and intracellular transport and also a major target in cancer therapies. Therefore, it is crucial to develop efficient methods for monitoring tubulin self-assembly at the molecular level. To mitigate the limitations of current methods, we propose a new approach based on a microwave lab-on-a-chip method to monitor tubulin self-assembly states. To that end, we designed a dedicated microwave platform with integrated microfluidics with a sensing volume of < 30 nL. In parallel, we used a standard bulk light-scattering-based method to assess the tubulin self-assembly and to validate the microwave chip results. Using our chip, for the first time, we demonstrate that the self-assembly state of tubulin into microtubules can be monitored using microwave microfluidics technology. Our results introduce a novel label-free electromagnetic monitoring and analytical method for bionanotechnology and biomedicine applications that can potentially be integrated into advanced microscopy systems.