Development of SPR Phase Imaging and SPR Diffraction Methods for Ultrasensitive Microarray Biosensing

化学系的化学测量和成像计划(CMI)支持加州大学欧文分校的罗伯特·M·科恩教授和他的团队开发新的仪器和方法，用于在极低浓度下对生物相关分子进行无标记检测。具体地说，目前正在开发两种新的光学生物传感技术：表面等离子体共振(SPR)相位成像和来自纳米线阵列、纳米GaP和纳米结构界面的光学衍射法。这两种新的检测方法利用生物分子与生物传感器表面结合时固有的折射率，既需要实现高保真的表面化学来制备表征良好的生物活性纳米结构表面，又需要创造新的光学检测技术，如SPR增强的位相光栅和光学衍射。这些生物传感器表面将与微流控微阵列一起使用，创建一种多路生物传感器格式，以检测和识别与许多生物医学应用相关的微量多个DNA、RNA和蛋白质，如发现新的癌症和心脏生物标记物。开发低成本、易用的生物传感器是改善健康的关键。科恩教授正在开发的基于折射率的方法可能提供快速、简单和相对便宜的多重生物测定。这项研究影响了研究生和博士后学者的教育，包括代表人数不足的群体的成员，涉及各种相关科学学科，包括生物医学工程、基因组学和材料科学。参与这项研究的本科生和高中生将被介绍给科学研究，作为创造更美好世界的一种手段，并将意识到低成本生物传感如何影响当地和全球的社区健康。

The Chemical Measurement and Imaging program (CMI) of the Division of Chemistry supports Professor Robert M. Corn and his group at the University of California-Irvine to develop new instrumentation and methodologies for the label-free detection of biologically relevant molecules at very low concentrations. Specifically, two new optical biosensing techniques are being developed: surface plasmon resonance (SPR) phase imaging and optical diffraction methods from nanowire arrays, nanogaps, and nanostructured interfaces. These two new detection methods use the inherent refractive index of biomolecules as they bind to biosensor surfaces, and require both the implementation of high fidelity surface chemistries for the fabrication of well-characterized bioactive nanostructured surfaces, and the creation of novel optical detection techniques such and SPR-enhanced phase gratings and optical diffraction. These biosensor surfaces will be used in conjunction with microfluidic microarrays to create a multiplexed biosensor format to detect and identify minute quantities of multiple DNAs, RNAs, and proteins at concentrations relevant for many biomedical applications such as discovery of new cancer and cardiac biomarkers.The development of low cost, easy-to-use biosensors is a key to improving health. The refractive index-based methods being developed by Prof. Corn may offer fast, simple, and relatively inexpensive multiplexed bioassays. The research impacts the education of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, including members of underrepresented groups, across a variety of related scientific disciplines including biomedical engineering, genomics, and materials science. Undergraduates and high school students who participate in this research are introduced to scientific research as a means to create a better world, and will become aware of how low-cost biosensing can impact community health both locally and globally.