Daniel Latta

Electron Permeable Self-Assembled Monolayers of Dithiolated Aromatic Scaffolds on Gold for Biosensor Applications

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of thiolated compounds are formed by the spontaneous chemisorption of thiolate groups on metal surfaces. In biosensors, they are most commonly used to covalently immobilize a biorecognition molecule onto the surface of the transducer, thus offering the possibility of controlling the orientation, distribution, and spacing of the sensing element while reducing nonspecific interactions. In this paper, self-assembled monolayers of dithiolated derivatives of 3,5-dihydroxybenzyl alcohol containing carboxyl and hydroxyl end groups have been prepared on gold surfaces and characterized by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Impedance measurements revealed that SAM formation is essentially completed after 3-5 h of exposure by observing the successive blocking of the faradic response of ferricyanide anion due to the adsorption of the dithiol molecules. The surface coverage of these molecules, estimated by reductive desorption experiments, was in the range of (1.1-2.8) x 10-10 mol/cm2. To demonstrate the potential of the dithiol SAM, a model system for detection of a tumor marker, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), was developed. The carboxyl groups of the SAM were succinimide-activated, and an anti-PSA antibody was covalently immobilized via amide bonds. The modified SAM was used for the label-free detection of prostate-specific antigen using EIS with a detection limit of 9 ng/mL. The results described here demonstrate that this kind of dithiol-modified SAM can be used as supports in electrochemical biosensors and the results are explained in terms of the structural features of these dithiols.

Amperometric Immunosensor for Carcinoembryonic Antigen in Colon Cancer Samples Based on Monolayers of Dendritic Bipodal Scaffolds

Detection of proteins that signal the presence or recurrence of cancer is a powerful therapeutic tool for effective early diagnosis and treatment. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) has been extensively studied as a tumor marker in clinical diagnosis. We report on the development of an amperometric biosensor for the detection of CEA based on the immobilization of anti-CEA monoclonal antibody on a novel class of bipodal thiolated self-assembled monolayers containing reactive N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) ester end groups. The current variations showed a linear relationship with the concentration of CEA over the range of 0-200 ng/mL with a sensitivity of 3.8 nA x mL x ng(-1) and a detection limit of 0.2 ng/mL, which is well below the commonly accepted concentration threshold (5 ng/mL) used in clinical diagnosis. Real time and accelerated stability studies of the reporter antibody under various storage conditions demonstrated that the enzymatic activity and antibody affinity of the conjugate is retained for long periods of time in commercial stabilizing buffers such as StabilGuard Biomolecule Stabilizer, and a prediction of the stability trends was carried out using the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters obtained from the Arrhenius equation. The developed immunosensor as well as a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit were successfully applied to the detection of CEA in serum samples obtained from colon cancer patients, and an excellent correlation of the levels of CEA measured was obtained. Ongoing work is looking at the incorporation of the developed biosensor into a platform for multiplexed simultaneous detection of several breast cancer related biomarkers.

Design and testing of a packaged microfluidic cell for the multiplexed electrochemical detection of cancer markers

We present the rapid prototyping of electrochemical sensor arrays integrated to microfluidics towards the fabrication of integrated microsystems prototypes for point‐of‐care diagnostics. Rapid prototyping of microfluidics was realised by high‐precision milling of polycarbonate sheets, which offers flexibility and rapid turnover of the desired designs. On the other hand, the electrochemical sensor arrays were fabricated using standard photolithographic and metal (gold and silver) deposition technology in order to realise three‐electrode cells comprising gold counter and working electrodes as well as silver reference electrode. The integration of fluidic chips and electrode arrays was realised via a laser‐machined double‐sided adhesive gasket that allowed creating the microchannels necessary for sample and reagent delivery. We focused our attention on the reproducibility of the electrode array preparation for the multiplexed detection of tumour markers such as carcinoembryonic antigen and prostate‐specific antigen as well as genetic breast cancer markers such as estrogen receptor‐α, plasminogen activator urokinase receptor, epidermal growth factor receptor and erythroblastic leukemia viral oncogene homolog 2. We showed that by carefully controlling the electrode surface pre‐treatment and derivatisation via thiolated antibodies or short DNA probes that the detection of several key health parameters on a single chip was achievable with excellent reproducibility and high sensitivity.

Automated microsystem for electrochemical detection of cancer markers

The development of a fully automated microsystem housing an amperometric immunosensor is presented. The microfluidic cell integrates reagent storage and electrochemical immunodetection and was applied for the detection of breast cancer markers. The main advantage of this system is that no external fluidic storage is required and the instrumental setup is thus greatly simplified. The fluidics of the microsystem is computer controlled and requires minimal end‐user intervention. The analytical performance of the device was compared with a manually driven system and applied for the amperometric detection of the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cancer antigen 15‐3 (CA15‐3). This automation methodology greatly improves the analytical performance of the immunosensor in terms of accuracy and reproducibility as evidenced by a reduction of LOD observed for CEA and CA15‐3 with respect to a manually driven system. Finally, the automated microsystem was applied for the analysis of real patient serum samples, demonstrating excellent correlation with a commercial ELISA.

Electrochemical quantification of DNA amplicons via the detection of non-hybridised guanine bases on low-density electrode arrays

A new strategy for the electrochemical detection and signal amplification of DNA at gold electrodes is described. Current methodologies for DNA biosensing based on the electrochemical detection of electroactive base-specific labels such as methylene blue (MB) suffer from lengthy incubation and washing steps. Addressing these limitations, we report a novel approach for the electrochemical quantification of surface hybrid, using the control gene LTA, 107 bases long, as a model target. An array of 15 gold electrodes was used to detect the formation of hybridised duplex following interaction of non-hybridised guanine bases with MB present in solution. Upon hybridisation the number of free guanines present at the electrode surface increased from 8 to 25 due to guanine bases present in the target sequence which did not participate in hybridisation and remained free to interact directly with methylene blue. This increase in free guanines consequently concentrated MB directly at the electrode surface. We found that the MB signal recorded for 100 nM of the complementary LTA was typically 2.14 times higher than that of the non-hybridised state. Very low cross-reactivity (<7%) with a non-complementary probe was recorded. The assay was optimised with regards to methylene blue concentration, hybridisation time and regeneration. The assay was quantitative and linear in the range of 6.25-50 nM target DNA exhibiting an LOD of 17.5 nM. The assay was rapid and easy to perform, with no need for lengthy incubations with the methylene blue label or requirement for washing steps. Ongoing work addresses the impact of guanine location on the signal in order to tailor design specific signalling domains of PCR products.

Fast nucleic acid amplification for integration in point‐of‐care applications

An ultrafast microfluidic PCR module (30 PCR cycles in 6 min) based on the oscillating fluid plug concept was developed. A robust amplification of native genomic DNA from whole blood samples could be achieved at operational conditions established from systematic investigations of key parameters including heat transfer and in particular flow velocities. Experimental data were augmented with results from computational fluid dynamics simulations. The reproducibility of the current system was substantially improved compared to previous concepts by integration of a closed reservoir instead of utilizing a vented channel end at ambient pressure rendering the devised module suitable for integration into complex sample‐to‐answer analysis platforms such as point‐of‐care applications.

Single cell analysis of cancer cells using an improved RT-MLPA method has potential for cancer diagnosis and monitoring.

Single cell analysis techniques have great potential in the cancer genomics field. The detection and characterization of circulating tumour cells are important for identifying metastatic disease at an early stage and monitoring it. This protocol is based on transcript profiling using Reverse Transcriptase Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (RT-MLPA), which is a specific method for simultaneous detection of multiple mRNA transcripts. Because of the small amount of (circulating) tumour cells, a pre-amplification reaction is performed after reverse transcription to generate a sufficient number of target molecules for the MLPA reaction. We designed a highly sensitive method for detecting and quantifying a panel of seven genes whose expression patterns are associated with breast cancer, and optimized the method for single cell analysis. For detection we used a fluorescence-dependent semi-quantitative method involving hybridization of unique barcodes to an array. We evaluated the method using three human breast cancer cell lines and identified specific gene expression profiles for each line. Furthermore, we applied the method to single cells and confirmed the heterogeneity of a cell population. Successful gene detection from cancer cells in human blood from metastatic breast cancer patients supports the use of RT-MLPA as a diagnostic tool for cancer genomics.

Electrochemical Genetic Profiling of Single Cancer Cells

Recent understandings in the development and spread of cancer have led to the realization of novel single cell analysis platforms focused on circulating tumor cells (CTCs). A simple, rapid, and inexpensive analytical platform capable of providing genetic information on these rare cells is highly desirable to support clinicians and researchers alike to either support the selection or adjustment of therapy or provide fundamental insights into cell function and cancer progression mechanisms. We report on the genetic profiling of single cancer cells, exploiting a combination of multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) and electrochemical detection. Cells were isolated using laser capture and lysed, and the mRNA was extracted and transcribed into DNA. Seven markers were amplified by MLPA, which allows for the simultaneous amplification of multiple targets with a single primer pair, using MLPA probes containing unique barcode sequences. Capture probes complementary to each of these barcode sequences were immobilized on a printed circuit board (PCB) manufactured electrode array and exposed to single-stranded MLPA products and subsequently to a single stranded DNA reporter probe bearing a HRP molecule, followed by substrate addition and fast electrochemical pulse amperometric detection. We present a simple, rapid, flexible, and inexpensive approach for the simultaneous quantification of multiple breast cancer related mRNA markers, with single tumor cell sensitivity.

SmartHEALTH: a microfluidic multisensor platform for POC cancer diagnostics

A universal microfluidic platform as a multisensor device for cancer diagnostics, developed within the framework of the EU project SmartHEALTH [1], will be presented. Based on a standardization concept, a microfluidic platform was realized that contains various functional modules in order to allow in its final setup to run a complete diagnostic assay on a chip starting with sample preparation to a final detection via a sensor array. A twofold concept was pursued for the development and standardization: On the one hand, a standard footprint with defined areas for special functional elements was chosen, on the other hand a toolbox-approach [2] was used whereas in a first instance different functional fluidic modules were realized, evaluated and afterwards integrated into the microfluidic multisensor platform. One main characteristic of the platform is that different kind of sensors can be used with the same fluidic chip. For the read-out and fluidic control of the chip, common fluidic interfaces to the instrument were defined. This microfluidic consumable is a hybrid system consisting of a polymer component with an integrated sensor, reagent storage on chip, integrated valves and metering elements.

Development of an integrated microsystem for the multiplexed detection of breast cancer markers in serum using electrochemical immunosensors

A microsystem integrating electrochemical biosensoric detection for the simultaneous multiplexed detection of protein markers of breast cancer is reported. The immobilization of antibodies against each of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), prostate specific antigen (PSA) and cancer antigen 15-3 (CA15-3) was achieved via crosslinking to a bipodal dithiol chemisorbed on gold electrodes. This bipodal dithiol had the double function of eliminating non-specific binding and optimal spacing of the anchor antibodies for maximum accessibility to the target proteins. Storage conditions were optimized, demonstrating a long-term stability of the reporter conjugates jointly stored within a single reservoir in the microsystem. The final system has been optimized in terms of incubation times, temperatures and simultaneous, multiplexed detection of the protein markers was achieved in less than 10 minutes with less than ng/mL detection limits. The microsystem has been validated using real patient serum samples and excellent correlation with ELISA results obtained.