UNS: Signal-Amplification for Instrument-Free, Multiplexed Immunoassay - a Generalized Platform for Biosening

CBET-1510468 Lei，Yuthe Pi提出了一种新的生物检测方法，可以可视化(而不是仪器)检测指示疾病状态的病原菌和生物分子。改良的酶联免疫吸附分析(ELISAs)是一种直观(而不是仪器)的方法，有望具有良好的灵敏度、简化的程序、较低的成本，并允许方便地同时检测多个目标。智能优点：一种简单但潜在非常强大的放大和免仪器的生物传感技术将被开发出来，该技术基于视觉高度测量，具有极好的简单性、便携性、灵敏度和适应性。检测抗体被自组装的脂基纳米颗粒(NPs)修饰以取代酶。在洗涤步骤之后，试管被装入三嵌段聚合物溶液，随后是自聚集的染色的脂基纳米粒。在重力沉淀被染色的NP团簇后，由于结合抗体在试管内表面捕获的靶标所导致的表面结合团簇的不同，被染色的NPs团簇的视觉高度有望表现出浓度依赖的行为。通过使用多个试管，每个试管串联涂有特定的抗体，可以同时检测多个目标。更广泛的影响：积极的研究成果可能会对公共卫生产生积极影响，特别是对偏远和低资源地区。该项目还将通过将先进的纳米生物传感技术整合到他们的教育和实验室培训中，对研究生、本科生和高中生的教育产生积极影响。与普通公众(通过康涅狄格州科学中心和焦点会议)和行业公司的互动将使结果得以更广泛地传播。两门新课程(生物分析传感器和纳米结构表征专题)将于2016年秋季提供给康涅狄格州大学的学生。该项目将招聘的研究生将积极与康涅狄格州科技广场互动，了解创业知识，如果该项目中出现任何有前途的IP，将剥离一家初创公司。

CBET - 1510468 Lei, YuThe PI has proposed a novel biological assay that can be visualized (instead of instrument) for detecting pathogenic bacteria and biomolecules that indicate disease state. If successful, it could be used in the food industry, water quality monitoring and medical diagnostics.A modified Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assays (ELISAs) which would be visual (instead of an instrument) and is expected to have good sensitivity, simplified procedure, lower cost, and allows for the facile simultaneous detection of multiple targets. Intellectual Merit: A simple but potentially very powerful amplification and instrument-free biosensing technology based on visual height measurement with excellent simplicity, portability, sensitivity, and adaptability will be developed.In lieu of an enzyme the detection antibody is modified with self-assembled lipid-based nanoparticles (NPs). After a washing-step the assay tubes are loaded with a triblock polymer solution followed by dyed lipid-based NPs that self- aggregate. After the precipitation of dyed NP clusters by gravity, the visual height of dyed NPs clusters is expected to show concentration-dependent behavior, due to the difference in the surface-bound clusters resulting from targets captured by the conjugated antibody on the tube inner surface. By using multiple tubes, each coated with specific antibodies in series, multiple targets can be detected simultaneously. Broader Impacts: Positive research outcome will potentially impact positively on public health, especially for remote and low-resource regions. This project will also positively impact education of the graduate, undergraduate and high school students by integrating advanced nano-biosensing into their educational and laboratory training. Interaction with the general public (through Connecticut Science Center and focus conference sessions) and industry companies will enable broader dissemination of the results. Two new courses (Special topics in Bioanalytical Sensor and Nanostructure Characterization) will be offered to UConn students in Fall 2016. The graduate students to be recruited on this project will actively interact with UConn Tech Plaza to learn about entrepreneurship and spin off a start-up company if any promising IP emerges in this project.