Jianlong Zhao

QDs-DNA nanosensor for the detection of hepatitis B virus DNA and the single-base mutants

We report here a quantum dots-DNA (QDs-DNA) nanosensor based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) for the detection of the target DNA and single mismatch in hepatitis B virus (HBV) gene. The proposed one-pot DNA detection method is simple, rapid and efficient due to the elimination of the washing and separation steps. In this study, the water-soluble CdSe/ZnS QDs were prepared by replacing the trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) on the surface of QDs with 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA). Subsequently, oligonucleotides were attached to the QDs surface to form functional QDs-DNA conjugates. Along with the addition of DNA targets and Cy5-modified signal DNAs into the QDs-DNA conjugates, sandwiched hybrids were formed. The resulting assembly brings the Cy5 fluorophore, the acceptor, and the QDs, the donor, into proximity, leading to fluorescence emission from the acceptor by means of FRET on illumination of the donor. In order to efficiently detect single-base mutants in HBV gene, oligonucleotide ligation assay was employed. If there existed a single-base mismatch, which could be recognized by the ligase, the detection probe was not ligated and no Cy5 emission was produced due to the lack of FRET. The feasibility of the proposed method was also demonstrated in the detection of synthetic 30-mer oliginucleotide targets derived from the HBV with a sensitivity of 4.0nM by using a multilabel counter. The method enables a simple and efficient detection that could be potentially used for high throughput and multiplex detections of target DNA and the mutants.

Multi-nanomaterial electrochemical biosensor based on label-free graphene for detecting cancer biomarkers

Developing a rapid, accurate and sensitive electrochemical biosensor for detecting cancer biomarkers is important for early detection and diagnosis. This work reports an electrochemical biosensor based on a graphene (GR) platform which is made by CVD, combined with magnetic beads (MBs) and enzyme-labeled antibody-gold nanoparticle bioconjugate. MBs coated with capture antibodies (Ab1) were attached to GR sheets by an external magnetic field, to avoid reducing the conductivity of graphene. Sensitivity was also enhanced by modifying the gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and the detection antibody (Ab2), to form the conjugate Ab2-AuNPs-HRP. Electron transport between the electrode and analyte target was accelerated by the multi-nanomaterial, and the limit of detection (LOD) for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) reached 5 ng mL(-1). The multi-nanomaterial electrode GR/MBs-Ab1/CEA/Ab2-AuNPs-HRP can be used to detect biomolecules such as CEA. The EC biosensor is sensitive and specific, and has potential in the detection of disease markers.

A microfluidic chip integrated with a high-density PDMS-based microfiltration membrane for rapid isolation and detection of circulating tumor cells.

Isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) by size exclusion is a widely researched technique that offers the advantage of capturing tumor cells without reliance on cell surface expression markers. In this work, we report the development of a novel polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane filter-based microdevice for rapid and highly efficient isolation of CTCs from peripheral blood. A precise and highly porous PDMS microfilter was fabricated and integrated into the microfiltration chip by combining a sacrificial transferring film with a sandwich molding method. We achieved >90% recovery when isolating lung cancer cells from spiked blood samples, with a relatively high processing throughput of 10 mL/h. In contrast to existing CTC filtration systems, which rely on low-porosity track-etch filters or expensive lithography-based filters, our microfiltration chip does not require complex e-beam lithography or the reactive ion etching process, therefore it offers a low-cost alternative tool for highly efficient CTC enrichment and in situ analysis. Thus, this new microdevice has the potential for use in routine monitoring of cancer development and cancer therapy in a clinical setting.

A microfluidic droplet digital PCR for simultaneous detection of pathogenic Escherichia coli O157 and Listeria monocytogenes

Sensitive and rapid identification of pathogenic bacterial is extremely important due to the serious threat of pathogens to human health. In this study, we demonstrate the simultaneous and sensitive detection of pathogenic Escherichia coli O157 and Listeria monocytogenes using a novel duplex droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) platform. The ddPCR platform, which uses a mineral oil-saturated polydimethylsiloxane (OSP) chip to overcome the problem of droplet evaporation, integrates the functions of droplet generation, on-chip amplification and end-point fluorescence readout. Simultaneous detection of two kinds of bacterial is achieved by the design of differentially labeled TaqMan-MGB fluorescent probes. Compared with a quantitative real-time PCR approach, the OSP chip-based duplex ddPCR platform exhibits high sensitivity, which is at the level of single molecule resolution without significant cross-assay interference. Moreover, the applicability of the proposed method is also evaluated in artificially contaminated drinking water sample, which displays a low detection limit down to 10 CFU/mL for both pathogenic bacterial within 2 h.

Signal-to-Noise Ratio Enhancement of Silicon Nanowires Biosensor with Rolling Circle Amplification

Herein, we describe a novel approach for rapid, label-free and specific DNA detection by applying rolling circle amplification (RCA) based on silicon nanowire field-effect transistor (SiNW-FET) for the first time. Highly responsive SiNWs were fabricated with a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible anisotropic self-stop etching technique which eliminated the need for hybrid method. The probe DNA was immobilized on the surface of SiNW, followed by sandwich hybridization with the perfectly matched target DNA and RCA primer that acted as a primer to hybridize the RCA template. The RCA reaction created a long single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) product and thus enhanced the electronic responses of SiNW significantly. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as a figure-of-merit was analyzed to estimate the signal enhancement and possible detection limit. The nanosensor showed highly sensitive concentration-dependent conductance change in response to specific target DNA sequences. Because of the binding of an abundance of repeated sequences of RCA products, the SNR of >20 for 1 fM DNA detection was achieved, implying a detection floor of 50 aM. This RCA-based SiNW biosensor also discriminated perfectly matched target DNA from one-base mismatched DNA with high selectivity due to the substantially reduced nonspecific binding onto the SiNW surface through RCA. The combination of SiNW FET sensor with RCA will increase diagnostic capacity and the ability of laboratories to detect unexpected viruses, making it a potential tool for early diagnosis of gene-related diseases.

Generation of concentration gradient by controlled flow distribution and diffusive mixing in a microfluidic chip

We have developed a simple method to generate a concentration gradient in a microfluidic device. This method is based on the combination of controlled fluid distribution at each intersection of a microfluidic network by liquid pressure and subsequent diffusion between laminas in the downstream microchannel. A fluid dynamic model taking into account the diffusion coefficient was established to simulate the on-chip flow distribution and diffusion. Concentration gradients along a distance of a few hundred micrometers were generated in a series of microchannels. The gradients could be varied by carefully regulating the liquid pressure applied to the sample injection vials. The observed concentration gradients of fluorescent dyes generated on the microfluidic channel are consistent with the theoretically predicted results. The microfluidic design described in this study may provide a new tool for applications based on concentration gradients, including many biological and chemical analyses such as cellular reaction monitoring and drug screening.

Label-free optical detection of single-base mismatches by the combination of nuclease and gold nanoparticles

We report here an optical approach that enables highly selective and colorimetric single-base mismatch detection without the need of target modification, precise temperature control or stringent washes. The method is based on the finding that nucleoside monophosphates (dNMPs), which are digested elements of DNA, can better stabilize unmodified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) than single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) with the same base-composition and concentration. The method combines the exceptional mismatch discrimination capability of the structure-selective nucleases with the attractive optical property of AuNPs. Taking S1 nuclease as one example, the perfectly matched 16-base synthetic DNA target was distinctively differentiated from those with single-base mutation located at any position of the 16-base synthetic target. Single-base mutations present in targets with varied length up to 80-base, located either in the middle or near to the end of the targets, were all effectively detected. In order to prove that the method can be potentially used for real clinic samples, the single-base mismatch detections with two HBV genomic DNA samples were conducted. To further prove the generality of this method and potentially overcome the limitation on the detectable lengths of the targets of the S1 nuclease-based method, we also demonstrated the use of a duplex-specific nuclease (DSN) for color reversed single-base mismatch detection. The main limitation of the demonstrated methods is that it is limited to detect mutations in purified ssDNA targets. However, the method coupled with various convenient ssDNA generation and purification techniques, has the potential to be used for the future development of detector-free testing kits in single nucleotide polymorphism screenings for disease diagnostics and treatments.

Simultaneous Detection of High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin I and Myoglobin by Modified Sandwich Lateral Flow Immunoassay: Proof of Principle

BACKGROUND Although numerous lateral flow immunoassays (LFIAs) have been developed and widely used, inadequate analytical sensitivity and the lack of multiple protein detection applications have limited their clinical utility. We developed a new LFIA device for the simultaneous detection of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) and myoglobin (Myo). METHODS We used a gold nanoparticle (AuNP) doubly labeled complex, in which biotinylated single-stranded DNA was used as a linkage to integrate 2 AuNPs and streptavidin-labeled AuNP, as an amplifier to magnify extremely low signals. RESULTS The detection limit of 1 ng/L achieved for hs-cTnI was 1000 times lower than that obtained in a conventional LFIA. The detection limit for simultaneously measured Myo was 1 μg/L. The linear measurement ranges for hs-cTnI and Myo were 1-10 000 ng/L and 1-10 000 μg/L, respectively. We observed concordant results between the LFIA and clinical assays in sera from 12 patients with acute myocardial infarction (hs-cTnI r = 0.96; Myo r = 0.98). Assay imprecision was <11% for both hs-TnI and myo. CONCLUSIONS The described proof-of-principle LFIA method could be used as a point-of-care device in multiple protein quantification and semiquantitative analysis.

A Rapid and Low-Cost Procedure for Fabrication of Glass Microfluidic Devices

In this paper, we present a simple, rapid, and low-cost procedure for fabricating glass microfluidic chips. This procedure uses commercially available microscopic slides as substrates and a thin layer of AZ 4620 positive photoresist (PR) as an etch mask for fabricating glass microfluidic components, rather than using expensive quartz glasses or Pyrex glasses as substrates and depositing an expensive metal or polysilicon/amorphous silicon layer as etch masks in conventional method. A long hard-baking process is proposed to realize the durable PR mask capable of withstanding a long etching process. In order to remove precipitated particles generated during the etching process, a new recipe of buffered oxide etching with addition of 20% HCl is also reported. A smooth surface microchannel with a depth of more than 110 mum is achieved after 2 h of etching. Meanwhile, a simple, fast, but reliable bonding process based on UV-curable glue has been developed which takes only 10 min to accomplish the efficient sealing of glass chips. The result shows that a high bonding yield (~ 100%) can be easily achieved without the requirement of clean room facilities and programmed high-temperature furnaces. The presented simple fabrication process is suitable for fast prototyping and manufacturing disposable microfluidic devices.

Sensitive label-free oligonucleotide-based microfluidic detection of mercury (II) ion by using exonuclease I

Mercury is a highly toxic metal that can cause significant harm to humans and aquatic ecosystems. This paper describes a novel approach for mercury (Hg(2+)) ion detection by using label-free oligonucleotide probes and Escherichia coli exonuclease I (Exo I) in a microfluidic electrophoretic separated platform. Two single-stranded DNAs (ssDNA) TT-21 and TT-44 with 7 Thymine-Thymine mispairs are employed to capture mercury ions. Due to the coordination structure of T-Hg(2+)-T, these ssDNAs are folded into hairpin-like double-stranded DNAs (dsDNA) which are more difficult to be digested by Exo I, as confirmed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) analysis. A series of microfluidic capillary electrophoretic separation studies are carried out to investigate the effect of Exo I and mercury ion concentrations on the detected fluorescence intensity. This method has demonstrated a high sensitivity of mercury ion detection with the limit of detection around 15 nM or 3 ppb. An excellent selectivity of the probe for mercury ions over five interference ions Fe(3+), Cd(2+), Pb(2+), Cu(2+) and Ca(2+) is also revealed. This method could potentially be used for mercury ion detection with high sensitivity and reliability.