Qiangyuan Zhu

Integrated Glass Microdevice for Nucleic Acid Purification, Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification, and Online Detection

A microdevice made of glass for genetic analysis has been fabricated, for the first time, for integration of extraction of nucleic acids and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), followed by online fluorescence detection of amplification products on a single chip. The nucleic acid (NA) extraction region consists of a microfabricated serpentine channel in which micropillars were etched to increase the channel surface area and the capture efficiency of NAs. Nucleic acid molecules were bound to these pillars and channel surface in the presence of the chaotropic salt guanidine hydrochloride and eluted into a downstream amplification chamber with low ionic strength buffer where loop-mediated isothermal amplification was efficiently performed. Amplification can be detected online by the increase of fluorescence intensity at 540 nm when a low concentration of SYBR Green I, a fluorescent dsDNA intercalating dye, is employed. Flow control was accomplished by using laminar flow and differential channel flow resistances. Through passivation of the LAMP chamber and the channel between the extraction region and amplification domain, effective nucleic acid extraction and amplification were performed by just using a double-channel syringe pump and a heating block. By using this integrated microdevice, the purification of nucleic acids from complex biological matrixes and their subsequent amplification and detection online could be finished within 2 h.

Au:CdHgTe quantum dots for in vivo tumor-targeted multispectral fluorescence imaging

AbstractNear-infrared gold-doped CdHgTe quantum dots (QDs) with improved photoluminescence and biocompatibility were developed using an aqueous solution route with l-glutathione and l-cysteine as stabilizers. As-prepared Au:CdHgTe QDs were covalently linked to arginine–glycine–aspartic acid (RGD) peptide, anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibody (MAb), and anti- carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule-1 (CEACAM1) MAb separately. Three Au:CdHgTe QD bioconjugates (QD800-RGD, QD820-anti-CEACAM1, and QD840-anti-EGFR) were successfully used as probes for in vivo tumor-targeted multispectral fluorescence imaging of xenografts. Fluorescence signals from the QD bioconjugates used to detect three tumor markers were spectrally unmixed, and their co-localization was analyzed. The results indicate that multiple tumor markers could be simultaneously detected by multispectral fluorescence imaging in vivo using QD bioconjugates as probes. This approach has excellent potential as an imaging method for the noninvasive exploration and detection of multiple tumor markers in vivo, thereby substantially aiding the diagnosis of cancer. FigureIn vivo tumor-targeted multispectral fluorescence imaging with Au:CdHgTe quantum dots

Mixed-Dye-Based Label-Free and Sensitive Dual Fluorescence for the Product Detection of Nucleic Acid Isothermal Multiple-Self-Matching-Initiated Amplification.

Visual detections based on fluorescence and the color changes under natural light are two promising product detections for isothermal nucleic acid amplifications (INAAs) such as the isothermal multiple-self-matching-initiated amplification (IMSA) as point-of-care testing techniques. However, the currently used approaches have shortcomings in application. For the former, fluorescence changes recognized by naked eye may be indistinguishable because of single fluorescence emitted and strong background noise, which requires empirical preset of cutoff intensity values. For the latter, visual detection sensitivity under natural light is not comparable to that based on fluorescence. Herein, hydroxyl naphthol blue (HNB) and SYBR Green I (SG) were coupled to acquire a label-free dual fluorescence for the visual product detection of IMSA. The mixed-dye-loaded off-chip (tube-based) and on-chip (microfluidic chip-based) IMSAs for the detection of hepatitis B virus were conducted. The results demonstrated that this dual fluorescence could realize distinguishable fluorescent color changes to improve visual detection sensitivity and avoid the preset of cutoff values. Moreover, the mixed dye is stable when kept at room temperature and compatible with the IMSAs reagents without a contamination-prone step of opening tubes after amplification. Also, this coupled dye inherits the advantages of achieving color changes under natural light from HNB and real-time detection from SG. In conclusion, the mixed-dye-based dual fluorescence has a potential in the point-of-care testing application for realizing off-chip and on-chip product detection of IMSA, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), or other INAAs.

A localized temporary negative pressure assisted microfluidic device for detecting keratin 19 in A549 lung carcinoma cells with digital PCR

Digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) has played a major role in biological research, especially by providing an accurate counting of single nucleic acid molecules. Here, we present a syringe filter-like microfluidic device to realize sample loading, encapsulation, moisturizing and running dPCR. The gas-permeability of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is utilized for sample loading under negative pressure. The air in the chambers is evacuated to the negative pressure side, resulting in the sample solution entering into the chambers. We also add a vaporproof-layer (VPL) in the chip to moisturize or restrain evaporation caused by the gas-permeability of PDMS under thermal cycling. Digital PCR is applied to test keratin 19 on this microdevice with 650 chambers, each having a volume of 6.28 nL, using the cDNA from the A549 cell line. The results exhibit linear regression under five dilution concentrations, thus demonstrating the robustness of the dPCR chip. This device is easy to be fabricated without multiple overlay exposures or high alignment precision, and should prove to be an effective tool for biological research.

Single cell digital polymerase chain reaction on self-priming compartmentalization chip

Single cell analysis provides a new framework for understanding biology and disease, however, an absolute quantification of single cell gene expression still faces many challenges. Microfluidic digital polymerase chain reaction (PCR) provides a unique method to absolutely quantify the single cell gene expression, but only limited devices are developed to analyze a single cell with detection variation. This paper describes a self-priming compartmentalization (SPC) microfluidic digital polymerase chain reaction chip being capable of performing single molecule amplification from single cell. The chip can be used to detect four single cells simultaneously with 85% of sample digitization. With the optimized protocol for the SPC chip, we first tested the ability, precision, and sensitivity of our SPC digital PCR chip by assessing β-actin DNA gene expression in 1, 10, 100, and 1000 cells. And the reproducibility of the SPC chip is evaluated by testing 18S rRNA of single cells with 1.6%-4.6% of coefficient of variation. At last, by detecting the lung cancer related genes, PLAU gene expression of A549 cells at the single cell level, the single cell heterogeneity was demonstrated. So, with the power-free, valve-free SPC chip, the gene copy number of single cells can be quantified absolutely with higher sensitivity, reduced labor time, and reagent. We expect that this chip will enable new studies for biology and disease.