Droplet-based microfluidics holds enormous potential for transforming high-throughput drug screening. Miniaturization through droplets in combination with automation contributes to reduce reagent use and analysis time as well as minimizing or eliminating labor-intensive steps leading to associated reductions in cost. In this paper, we demonstrate the potential of automated and cost-effective microfluidic droplet-generating technology in the context of an enzymatic activity assay for screening collagenase inhibitors. Experimental results show reproducible and accurate creation and mixing of droplet combinations resulting in biochemical data comparable to data produced by an industry standard instrument. This microfluidic platform that can generate and combine multiple droplets represents a promising tool for high-throughput drug screening.

中文翻译：

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液滴组合：用于生化分析的可扩展微流体平台。

基于液滴的微流体技术在改变高通量药物筛选方面具有巨大潜力。通过液滴小型化与自动化相结合有助于减少试剂使用和分析时间，并最大限度地减少或消除劳动密集型步骤，从而降低相关成本。在本文中，我们展示了在筛选胶原酶抑制剂的酶活性测定的背景下自动化且具有成本效益的微流体液滴生成技术的潜力。实验结果表明，液滴组合的可重复性和准确的产生和混合产生的生化数据可与行业标准仪器产生的数据相媲美。这种可以生成和组合多个液滴的微流体平台代表了高通量药物筛选的有前途的工具。