Low-cost label-free whispering gallery mode electrospun optical biosensor for simultaneous detection of multiple biomolecules.

生物分子的快速、现场检测对于生物医学工业、环境监测、食品安全和质量至关重要。因此，对新型高性能传感器技术的需求不断增加，这种技术能够以更低的成本在小样本量内检测许多目标生物分子。这个研究项目将有助于解决社会对坚固和灵敏的生物传感器的需求，这些传感器成本低，易于制造，并且能够一次感知许多生物分子。将使用一种敏感的、基于光纤的光学平台，其中发射光波长的变化表明目标生物分子的存在和数量。在该平台内，多个传感器将集成在一个小区域内，形成高密度的生物传感器阵列，可以同时检测来自相同小样本量的多种生物分子。生物识别元件与目标生物分子相互作用，使其能够被检测到，将使用简单且可扩展的一步方法直接集成到每个单独的传感器中。将生物识别元件整合到基于纤维的传感器中，将进一步促进对多种生物分子的传感，同时保持小的占地面积和最小的样本量。该研究项目将为一系列指导和拓展活动提供支持，这些活动旨在激励、招募和培训各种各样的未来科学家和工程师。研究者的努力将有利于研究生、本科生和中学生的教育。本研究项目的目标是展示和开发一种电纺窃窃廊模式谐振器，该谐振器集成了基于噬菌体的识别元件，作为鲁棒性高灵敏度的多路光学生物传感器。电纺丝纤维具有接近圆形的横截面和可控的微尺度直径，是低成本、易于制造的窃窃私语走廊模式谐振器的绝佳候选材料。此外，这些简单、紧凑的光学设备将允许几个具有不同光学特征的空腔放置在一个小区域内，用于生物分子分析或多路传感。静电纺丝非常适合在光学腔内高浓度地加入丝状噬菌体等生物识别元素。基于噬菌体的生物受体为高灵敏度检测提供了高密度的组织良好和高度定向的分析物结合位点。噬菌体在化学上和热上都很健壮，能忍受一系列的传感条件，并且可以用细菌宿主廉价地大量制造。将生物受体集成到低语通道模式光学腔中，将消除腔制造后生物功能化步骤的需要，从而最大限度地降低制造复杂性，减少生物传感器足迹，并实现直接的多种分析物检测。此外，与丝状噬菌体相关的高度定向的生物受体的无与伦比的密度，以及由电纺丝支架创建的长距离和短程有序，有望产生具有无与伦比的灵敏度和选择性的生物传感器。

Rapid, on-site detection of biomolecules is critical for the biomedical industry, environmental monitoring, food safety and quality. As such, there is a constant demand for novel high performance sensor technologies, capable of detecting many target biomolecules within small sample volume at a reduced cost. This research project will aid in addressing societal needs for robust and sensitive biosensors which are low-cost, readily manufacturable, and are able to sense many biomolecules at a time. A sensitive, fiber-based optical platform in which a change in emitted light wavelength signals the presence and amount of the target biomolecule will be used. Within this platform, multiple sensors will be integrated into a small area to create high density biosensor array which can concurrently detect multiple biomolecules from the same small sample volume. Biorecognition elements, which interact with the target biomolecules allowing them to be detected, will be directly integrated into each individual sensor using a simple and scalable, one-step approach. The incorporation of biorecognition elements into the fiber-based sensors will further facilitate sensing of multiple biomolecules while maintaining a small footprint and minimal sample volume. This research project will provide support for a number of mentoring and outreach activities designed to inspire, recruit, and train a diverse set of future scientists and engineers. The investigators' endeavors will benefit the education of graduate, undergraduate, and middle school students.The objective of this research project is to demonstrate and develop an electrospun whispering gallery mode resonators with integrated phage-based recognition elements as robust, highly-sensitive multiplexed optical biosensors. With near circular cross-sections and controlled microscale diameters, electrospun fibers are excellent candidates for low-cost, readily manufacturable whispering gallery mode resonators. Moreover, these simple, compact optical devices will allow several cavities with distinct optical signatures to be placed within a small area to be used for biomolecule assays or multiplexed sensing. Electrospinning is well-suited to incorporate biorecognition elements such as filamentous phage within the optical cavity at high concentrations. Phage-based bioreceptors provide a high density of well-organized and highly-oriented analyte binding sites for high sensitivity detection. Phages are chemically and thermally robust, tolerating a range of sensing conditions and can be manufactured inexpensively in large quantities with a bacterial host. The integration of bioreceptors into the whispering gallery mode optical cavity will eliminate the need for biofunctionalization steps following cavity fabrication, thus minimizing manufacturing complexity, reducing biosensor footprint, and enabling straightforward multiple analyte detection. Furthermore, the unsurpassed density of highly-oriented bioreceptors associated with the filamentous phage, as well as the long- and short-range ordering created by the electrospun scaffold is expected to produce biosensors with unparalleled sensitivity and selectivity.