The device has been developed by researchers based at the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, the California NanoSystems Institute, together with scientists from the David Geffen School of Medicine.
The function of the device is to rapidly detect key biological marker proteins in blood and bodily fluids. These marker proteins would indicate the presence of cancer, or key infectious diseases.
The device is portable and could be used in doctor’s surgery, providing a result in less than ten minutes. This not only saves time, it would avoid the need for the patient to attend hospital.
In their efforts, the researchers overcame a key problem – that is the low number of proteins present in fluids like plasma. To achieve this they built-in an amplification technique whereby a sample of protein present in low abundance and be taken and then replicated thousands of times to produce a level that can be detected by an instrument.
Unlike comparable methods (which take much longer) the device does not amplify the proteins using enzymes. Instead the device uses a molecular chain reaction that is only triggered in the presence of a target protein.
This process happens at the nanoscale. When a target protein is present, two parts of a DNA key come together. The resultant complex triggers DNA signaling molecules. These molecules generate more of the DNA complex through a series of repeated cycles.
Speaking with Controlled Environments magazine, lead researcher Professor Aydogan Ozcan said: “Unlike previous approaches to achieve an amplified readout of proteins, such as the proximity ligation assay, this approach does not require multiple enzymes, longer polymerization-based enzymatic reactions, or temperature control to amplify signal.”
The device has been tested, so far, with two target proteins, including one for influenza (called influenza nucleoprotein). The results have been successful and more trials are planned.
The research is published in the journal ACS Nano. The research paper is titled “Homogeneous Entropy-Driven Amplified Detection of Biomolecular Interactions.”
