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行业、环境监测、食品安全和质量至关重要。 因此，对于能够以降低的成本检测小样品体积内的许多目标生物分子的新型高性能传感器技术存在持续的需求。该研究项目将有助于解决社会对低成本、易于制造、能够同时检测许多生物分子的强大而敏感的生物传感器的需求。 一种灵敏的、基于光纤的光学平台，其中发射光波长的变化将被用于发出目标生物分子的存在和数量的信号。 在这个平台中，多个传感器将被集成到一个小区域中，以创建高密度的生物传感器阵列，该阵列可以同时检测来自相同小样本体积的多个生物分子。 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法直接集成到每个单独的传感器中。 将生物识别元件结合到基于纤维的传感器中将进一步促进多个生物分子的感测，同时保持小的足迹和最小的样品体积。 该研究项目将为一些旨在激励，招募和培训未来科学家和工程师的指导和推广活动提供支持。本研究的目的是展示和开发一种集成了基于噬菌体识别元件的静电纺丝回音壁模式谐振器，作为鲁棒的、高灵敏度的多路复用光学生物传感器。 静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、易于制造的回音壁模式谐振器的优秀候选者。 此外，这些简单、紧凑的光学器件将允许将具有不同光学特征的几个腔放置在小区域内，以用于生物分子测定或多路复用传感。 静电纺丝非常适合于将生物识别元件如丝状噬菌体以高浓度掺入光学腔内。 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且高度定向的分析物结合位点。 噬菌体在化学和热上是稳健的，耐受一系列传感条件，并且可以用细菌宿主廉价地大量制造。 将生物受体集成到回音壁模式光学腔中将消除在腔制造之后对生物功能化步骤的需要，从而使制造复杂性最小化，减少生物传感器足迹，并且实现直接的多分析物检测。 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，以及由电纺支架产生的长距离和短距离有序性，预计将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.