Enzymatic Reactions in Microfluidic Devices: Michaelis−Menten Kinetics

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Abstract
Kinetic rate constants for enzymatic reactions are typically measured with a series of experiments at different substrate concentrations in a well-mixed container. Here we demonstrate a microfluidic technique for measuring Michaelis-Menten rate constants with only a single experiment. Enzyme and substrate are brought together in a coflow microfluidic device, and we establish analytically and numerically that the initial concentration of product scales with the distance x along the channel as x5/2. Measurements of the initial rate of product formation, combined with the quasi-steady rate of product formation further downstream, yield the rate constants. We corroborate the x5/2 scaling result experimentally using the bioluminescent reaction between ATP and luciferase/luciferin as a model system.