Print Email Facebook Twitter A microfluidic platform for the characterisation of membrane active antimicrobials Title A microfluidic platform for the characterisation of membrane active antimicrobials Author Al Nahas, K. (Cavendish Laboratory) Cama, J. (Cavendish Laboratory) Schaich, M. (Cavendish Laboratory) Hammond, K. (National Physical Laboratory) Deshpande, S.R. (TU Delft BN/Cees Dekker Lab; TU Delft QN/Quantum Nanoscience; Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft) Dekker, C. (TU Delft BN/Cees Dekker Lab; TU Delft QN/Quantum Nanoscience; Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft) Ryadnov, M. G. (National Physical Laboratory) Keyser, U. F. (Cavendish Laboratory) Department QN/Quantum Nanoscience Date 2019 Abstract The spread of bacterial resistance against conventional antibiotics generates a great need for the discovery of novel antimicrobials. Polypeptide antibiotics constitute a promising class of antimicrobial agents that favour attack on bacterial membranes. However, efficient measurement platforms for evaluating their mechanisms of action in a systematic manner are lacking. Here we report an integrated lab-on-a-chip multilayer microfluidic platform to quantify the membranolytic efficacy of such antibiotics. The platform is a biomimetic vesicle-based screening assay, which generates giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) in physiologically relevant buffers on demand. Hundreds of these GUVs are individually immobilised downstream in physical traps connected to separate perfusion inlets that facilitate controlled antibiotic delivery. Antibiotic efficacy is expressed as a function of the time needed for an encapsulated dye to leak out of the GUVs as a result of antibiotic treatment. This proof-of-principle study probes the dose response of an archetypal polypeptide antibiotic cecropin B on GUVs mimicking bacterial membranes. The results of the study provide a foundation for engineering quantitative, high-throughput microfluidics devices for screening antibiotics. To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:285a1cd4-c084-41b3-8ed1-1b1dc7449278 DOI https://doi.org/10.1039/c8lc00932e ISSN 1473-0197 Source Lab On a Chip: microfluidic and nanotechnologies for chemistry, biology, and bioengineering, 19 (5), 837-844 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2019 K. Al Nahas, J. Cama, M. Schaich, K. Hammond, S.R. Deshpande, C. Dekker, M. G. Ryadnov, U. F. Keyser Files PDF c8lc00932e.pdf 3.44 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:285a1cd4-c084-41b3-8ed1-1b1dc7449278/datastream/OBJ/view