Development of PCR Microchip for Early Cancer Risk Prediction

An integrated continuous-flow microfluidic chip was fabricated on glass substrate with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based microchannels, cell lysis and Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) modules on the same chip. While gold-microelectrode was used for electrochemical cell lysis, indium-tin-oxide (ITO) microheater was used for thermal cycling during PCR reaction. The fabricated device was used for PCR amplification of pancreatic cancer DNA marker (SMAD4) from non-tumorigenic MCF10a human cell lines. The PCR product (193 bp) was verified for MCF10a cells by agarose gel electrophoresis after 20 cycles of reaction on the microchip, whereas no product was detected in case of tumorigenic MCF7 cells. The total time required for the entire reaction was less than 45 min. Therefore, the proposed microchip can be helpful in predicting the risk of metastatic cancer by analysis of genetic tumor markers from human samples and can also be used for other genetic analysis involving PCR reaction.