Automation of Amplicon-Based Library Preparation for Next-Generation Sequencing by Centrifugal Microfluidics

Abstract

Next generation sequencing has become a mainstream method in bioanalysis. Improvements in sequencing and bioinformatics turned the complex and cumbersome library preparation to the bottle neck in terms of reproducibility and costs in the complete NGS workflow. Here, we introduce an automated library preparation approach based on a generic centrifugal microfluidic car-tridge. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction amplification and subsequent clean-up were processed with all reagents pre-stored on disk, including cell line-based DNA as quality control. Exchange of pre-stored reagents allows to apply the cartridge to different target genes. Sequencing of automatically prepared libraries from T-cell receptor and immunoglobulin gene rearrangements in context of lymphoproliferative disorders demonstrated excellent clean-up performance between 91.9% and 99.9% of target DNA reads and successful amplification of all target regions by up to 15 forward combined with four reverse primers. The fully auto-mated library preparation by centrifugal microfluidics thus offers attractive automation options in diagnostic settings.