chip’ – a coin-sized microchip that can carry out a number of different analytical operations. “When analysing the metabolism of drugs, there are a number of steps that need to be carried out,” she states. “First, the sample needs to be prepared, meaning that the metabolites of interest
need to be purified and
concentrated. This allows one to get an accurate reading of their quantities in the reaction solution. After this, the different components are separated, after which they
are detected
exist, you realise the enormity of the task of screening all of them.” The miniaturised lab-on-a-chip system to
helps improve the throughput of using, typically,
electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry or laser induced fluorescence microscopy.” The fundamental goal of the research is increase
to the awareness of the
physiological effects of a variety of exogenous
compounds, specifically
focusing on household products and whether the presence of chemicals such as plasticisers has an effect on people. “This area is surprisingly poorly studied, although there are some publications that state that certain chemicals might affect the metabolism of drugs, or endogenous compounds such as hormones, in the body,” says Sikanen. “If you consider how many of these compounds and chemicals
analysing these chemicals by introducing parallel systems, allowing multiple reactions to be performed simultaneously. But as well as this, Sikanen’s group are also looking to improve the universality of their detection methods by introducing new electrochemical modes of detection, as well as improving existing methods such as electrospray ionisation. Santos and Sikanen’s different lines of
work address what appear at first to be fairly disparate subjects, but their technical crossover in terms of microfabrication techniques, as well as their shared mission to better understand the fundamental processes by which the human body processes pharmaceutical compounds, draws them together. Their work for the NAMI Unit at the University of Helsinki is at the forefront of their respective fields, and it is research such as theirs that will help usher in the next generation of nano and microtechnological applications.
★
AT A GLANCE Project Information
Project Title: CUMTAS: Customized Micro Total Analysis Systems to Study Human Phase I Metabolism
Project Objective: To develop high throughput technology for chemical analysis via miniaturization of the analytical instrumentation by microfabrication and integration of multiple biochemical operations (e.g., enzyme reaction, sample preparation, separation, detection) on a single microfluidic chip. A special emphasis is put on studying molecular metabolic interactions of drugs and other exogenous compounds.
Project Duration and Timing: 60 months, May 2013 to April 2018
Project Funding: ERC Starting Grant (EUR 1,499,668)
MAIN CONTACT
Tiina M. Sikanen Dr Sikanen is an adjunct professor (docent) in pharmaceutical chemistry, an Academy of Finland postdoctoral fellow, and a principal investigator (group leader) at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki. Her main research field is bioinspired microfluidics and its interfacing with mass spectrometry.
Contact: Tel: +358-2941-59173 Email:
Tiina.Sikanen@
helsinki.fi Web:
http://www.helsinki.fi/pharma- cy/chemtech/en/Research/
nami.html
http://cordis.europa.eu/projects/ rcn/
106984_en.html
www.projectsmagazine.eu.com
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