Portable nanofluidic aptamer-SERS instrument for measurement of chemical exposure

项目概述NIH-SBIR第一阶段提案的目标是开发一种新的护理点(POC)检测平台和方法，用于评估人类对血液中有害环境化合物的暴露。由于这些化学物质进入体内的运输机制、它们不同的稳定性和消除很难建模，如果可能的话，在体内而不是在环境中分析这些化合物要简单得多。我们方法的主要创新是，将使用一种新颖的光学微到纳米流体设备与独特的适配子和拉曼报告分子一起以多路复用的方式同时测量几类化合物。这种光流控设备是一种极其灵敏的表面增强拉曼光谱(SERS)纳米通道盒，由德克萨斯A&M大学教授Jun Kameoka和Gerard Cot？发明。适体官能化化学以及整体集成产品将由BioTex公司开发。正在开发的设备在纳米通道的入口处提供等于或超过1014的信号增强，从而能够快速定量流体中的毫微摩尔或更小水平的靶。这个基于SERS的纳米流体平台已经通过多份出版物进行了演示，因此该公司需要解决的关键问题是适体化学能否在使用该平台的包括全血在内的日益复杂的介质中发挥预期的作用，以及该平台能否针对这一应用进行优化。因此，本研究的具体目的是建立一种能够特异性检测模型多氯联苯(PCbs)、双酚A(BPA)和模型邻苯二甲酸酯的适体分析方法。采用的共振SERS报告和纳米流体浓缩器有可能提供比标准荧光提高数量级的灵敏度，并且不需要复杂的多步骤任务的酶联免疫吸附试验或全分析化学分析，如层析和质谱学。 公共卫生相关性：项目简介这项研究的目标是开发一种新的护理点(POC)检测平台和方法，用于评估有害化合物的生物暴露。由于有可能极大地提高此类测量的敏感性和易用性，这项研究的最终产品预计将产生相当大的影响，使毒理学家、环境卫生专业人员和临床医生能够将有毒化学物质的影响与疾病状态相关联。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Project Summary The goal of this NIH-SBIR Phase I proposal is to develop a new point-of-care (POC) detection platform and methodology for assessment of human exposure to hazardous environmental compounds in the bloodstream. Because the mechanisms of transport of such chemicals into the body, their differing stabilities, and elimination are difficult to model, if possible, it is much more straightforward to assay for these compounds in the body rather than in the environment. The primary innovations in our approach are that a novel optical micro- to nano-fluidic device will be used along with unique aptamers and Raman reporter molecules to simultaneously measure several classes of compounds in a multiplexed fashion. The opto-fluidic device is an extremely sensitive surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) nanochannel cartridge that was invented at Texas A&M University by professors Jun Kameoka and Gerard Cot¿. The aptamer functionalization chemistry as well as the overall integrated product will be developed at BioTex, Inc. The device being developed provides signal enhancements equal to or exceeding 1014 at the entrance to the nanochannel, enabling rapid quantification of femtomolar or smaller levels of targets in fluids. This SERS-based nanofluidic platform has been demonstrated through several publications and so the key question that need to be addressed by the company are can the aptamer chemistry perform as intended in progressively complex media including whole blood with this platform and can the platform be optimized for this application. Thus, the specific aims of this research are to develop the aptamer assay for specifically detecting model polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), bisphenol-A (BPA), and model phthalates. The resonant-SERS reporting and nanofluidic concentrator employed have the potential to provide orders-of-magnitude improved sensitivity over standard fluorescence and without the complicated multistep tasks of ELISA or full analytical chemistry analysis such as chromatography and mass spectrometry. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Project Narrative The goal of this research is to develop a new point-of-care (POC) detection platform and methodology for assessment of biological exposure to harmful chemical compounds. With the potential to greatly improve the sensitivity and ease of such measurements, the end-product of this research is expected to have considerable impact allowing toxicologists, environmental health professionals, and clinicians the ability to correlate the effects of toxic chemicals to disease states.