title: Molecular nanoshearing: an innovative approach to shear off molecules with AC-induced nanoscopic fluid flow.
abstract: Early diagnosis of disease requires highly specific measurement of molecular biomarkers from femto to pico-molar concentrations in complex biological (e.g., serum, blood, etc.) samples to provide clinically useful information. While reaching this detection limit is challenging in itself, these samples contain numerous other non-target molecules, most of which have a tendency to adhere to solid surfaces via nonspecific interactions. Herein, we present an entirely new methodology to physically displace nonspecifically bound molecules from solid surfaces by utilizing a newly discovered "tuneable force", induced by an applied alternating electric field, which occurs within few nanometers of an electrode surface. This methodology thus offers a unique ability to shear-off loosely bound molecules from the solid/liquid interface. Via this approach, we achieved a 5-fold reduction in nonspecific adsorption of non-target protein molecules and a 1000-fold enhancement for the specific capture of HER2 protein in human serum.
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), Corner College and Cooper Roads (Bldg 75), The University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Muhammad J A
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Shiddiky
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), Corner College and Cooper Roads (Bldg 75), The University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Ramanathan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vaidyanathan
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), Corner College and Cooper Roads (Bldg 75), The University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Sakandar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rauf
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), Corner College and Cooper Roads (Bldg 75), The University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Zhikai
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tay
authors.affiliation: 1] Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), Corner College and Cooper Roads (Bldg 75), The University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia [2] School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trau
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D006801:Humans; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D011506:Proteins; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000097:blood; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases