New Automated Electrophoresis System for DNA/RNA Analysis Employs Reusable Microchips for Improved Performance

Shimadzu’s MCE-202 MultiNA is a fully automated, microchip-based capillary electrophoresis analyzer for high-speed analysis of DNA and RNA samples (patents pending). At recommended conditions, chips can process 3,600 or more analyses before needing to be replaced – with no detectable carryover.

The MultiNA automates sample processing, including pre-treatment, separation, detection and data analysis, in a single device, making the MultiNA far more user-friendly than traditional alternatives. An LED-excited fluorescence detector increases sensitivity to more than 10 times that of ethidium bromide staining. Yet operating costs for this unit are comparable to or less than agarose gel electrophoresis, which requires several pieces of equipment and is labor intensive, and 25 percent less than equivalent-class microchip systems.

The MultiNA system can register up to 120 automatic analyses at a time or perform efficient analysis from an individual sample. By parallel processing up to four microchips, it can produce electrophoresis results in just 75 seconds in the shortest analysis mode.

The MultiNA is completely automated for high-speed analysis and high performance separations with fragment length differences of only a few base-pair (BP) units. Although simple to operate, it produces highly reproducible results. It uses reagent kits corresponding to nucleic acid size, automatically injecting a set quantity of reagent, therefore using only small amounts of important samples (as little as 2 μL) and very little reagent. The comprehensive automation also prevents the accidental loss of reagent and operator-induced data variances. Simultaneous electrophoresis of an internal marker ensures analysis reliability and reproducibility.

Shimadzu’s software for the MultiNA uses size markers to automatically correct electrophoresis results for size prediction and quantitation. Users can perform either automatic or manual data analysis, and confirm completed results even while the unit processes other samples. The software includes a well status display, analysis schedule list and chip status display for current operating status.