SBIR Phase I: Real-Time Micro-Array Imaging for Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) Detection

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目是建立一个新的微阵列技术的可行性的基础上测量生物聚合物分子的杂交动力学。 通过在真实的时间内测量杂交动力学，可以以比使用常规微阵列高得多的准确度区分完全和非完全同源的DNA。 该技术的一个重要创新组成部分是通过直径为数百纳米的胶体金颗粒标记靶DNA。 这种标记技术显著提高了检测灵敏度，并且可以使用非常便宜的检测系统来实现。 先前的工作已经表明，使用金颗粒可以提高杂交的速度，以便在几分钟内完成分析，而传统的微阵列方案需要数小时。 该系统适用于许多微阵列应用，包括在需要高杂交特异性时筛选单核苷酸多态性（SNP），以及在时间紧迫的医疗程序（如手术）中进行表达微阵列分析，该项目的商业应用包括药物筛选、核酸鉴定和测序、单碱基突变筛选和基因表达分析。 微阵列在医学研究中越来越多的应用将为将所提出的技术引入常规临床实践创造更多的机会。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to establish the feasibility of a novel micro-array technology based on measurements of kinetics of hybridization of biopolymer molecules. By measuring kinetics of hybridization in real time, the perfectly and non-perfectly homologous DNA can be distinguished with much higher accuracy than by using conventional micro-arrays. An important innovative component of this technology is the labeling of target DNA by colloidal gold particles that are of the order of hundreds of nanometers in diameter. This labeling technique significantly increases the detection sensitivity and can be implemented using a very inexpensive detection system. Prior work has shown that the use of gold particles can increase the speed of hybridization to allow complete analysis in minutes, whereas conventional micro-array protocols require many hours. The proposed system is advantageous for many micro-array applications, including screening of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), when high hybridization specificity is required, and performing express micro-array analysis during time-critical medical procedures such as surgery.The commercial applications of this project include drug screening, nucleic acid identification and sequencing, single base mutation screening, and gene expression analysis. The increasing applications of micro-arrays in medical research will create additional opportunities for introducing the proposed technology into routine clinical practice.