title: Matrix-insensitive protein assays push the limits of biosensors in medicine.
abstract: Advances in biosensor technologies for in vitro diagnostics have the potential to transform the practice of medicine. Despite considerable work in the biosensor field, there is still no general sensing platform that can be ubiquitously applied to detect the constellation of biomolecules in diverse clinical samples (for example, serum, urine, cell lysates or saliva) with high sensitivity and large linear dynamic range. A major limitation confounding other technologies is signal distortion that occurs in various matrices due to heterogeneity in ionic strength, pH, temperature and autofluorescence. Here we present a magnetic nanosensor technology that is matrix insensitive yet still capable of rapid, multiplex protein detection with resolution down to attomolar concentrations and extensive linear dynamic range. The matrix insensitivity of our platform to various media demonstrates that our magnetic nanosensor technology can be directly applied to a variety of settings such as molecular biology, clinical diagnostics and biodefense.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
authors.forename: Richard S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Gaster
authors.forename: Drew A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: Carsten H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: Sebastian J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Osterfeld
authors.forename: Heng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Kathleen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Mach
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Murmann
authors.forename: Joseph C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Sanjiv S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Gambhir
authors.forename: Shan X
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods; D051379:Mice; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D055095:Optics and Photonics / Q000295:instrumentation; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism; D023041:Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D011506:Proteins; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A