title: Ultrasensitive detection of low-abundance surface-marker protein using isothermal rolling circle amplification in a microfluidic nanoliter platform.
abstract: With advances in immunology and cancer biology, there is an unmet need for increasingly sensitive systems to monitor the expression of specific cell markers for the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic tools. To address this challenge, a highly sensitive labeling method that translates antigen-antibody recognition processes into DNA detection events that can be greatly amplified via isothermal rolling circle amplification (RCA) is applied. By merging the single-molecule detection power of RCA reactions with microfluidic technology, it is demonstrated that the identification of specific protein markers can be achieved on tumor-cell surfaces in miniaturized nanoliter reaction droplets. Furthermore, this combined approach of signal amplification in a microfluidic format could extend the utility of existing methods by reducing sample and reagent consumption and enhancing the sensitivities and specificities for various applications, including early diagnosis of cancer.
authors.affiliation: Center for Engineering in Medicine and Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Tania
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Konry
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Smolina
authors.forename: Joel M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Yarmush
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Irimia
authors.forename: Martin L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Yarmush
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000379:methods*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D008565:Membrane Proteins