Collaborative Research: Integration of Biomolecular Self-Assembly and Capacitance Spectroscopy on Pathogen Diagnostics-On-Chip

目的：本研究的目的是将生物分子自组装、电容谱和微流控技术集成到单个芯片实验室中，开发新型的病原体诊断系统。方法是在纳米管上嵌入针对目标病原体的抗体纳米管阵列捕捉病原体，纳米管在电极之间的电容变化将检测和识别病原体菌株。智能优点：如果成功，拟议的芯片上实验室系统可以利用蛋白质纳米管技术结合针对目标生物的抗体快速检测样本体积较小的受污染微生物。这项工作将通过开发一个高灵敏度、选择性、可重复性和无假阳性的病原体检测平台，在单细胞水平上促进病原体检测和诊断的进步。这种超紧凑的芯片上实验室诊断工具也可以用于远程临床实验室中的护理点应用。广泛影响：这项研究对医疗保健和国土安全具有更广泛的社会影响，因为拟议的芯片上实验室可以以更少的假阳性信号即时检测和识别有害病原体。教育的更广泛影响延伸到纽约市当地的高中生，他们中的许多人来自代表人数较少的群体，以通过拟议的教育推广计划为严肃的科学载体做准备。调查人员还将利用现有的项目，对当地学校教师和K-12学生进行教育。

Objective:The objective of this research is to develop novel pathogen diagnostic systems by integrating biomolecular self-assembly, capacitance spectroscopy, and microfluidics into single lab-on-chip. The approach is that the array of antibody nanotubes, incorporating antibodies for target pathogens on nanotubes, captures pathogens and the capacitance change of the nanotube between electrodes will detect and identify the strain of pathogen. Intellectual Merit:If successful, the proposed lab-on-chip system could enable rapid detection of contaminating microorganisms with small sample volume utilizing the protein nanotube technology combined with antibodies specific for targeted organisms. The effort will contribute to advances in pathogen sensing and diagnostics by the development of a highly sensitive, selective, reproducible, and false-positive-free detection platform of pathogens in the detection limit of a single cell level. This ultra-compact lab-on-chip diagnostic tool could also be useful for point-of-care applications in remote clinical laboratories.Broader Impact:This research has broader social impact on health care and homeland security since harmful pathogens can be detected and identified by the proposed lab-on-chip instantaneously with fewer false-positive signals. The educational broader impact is extends to local high school students in New York City, many of them are from underrepresented groups, to prepare for serious scientific carrier through the proposed educational outreach program. The investigators will also engage in educating local school teachers and K-12 students by leveraging an existing program.