title: Active accumulation of very diluted biomolecules by nano-dispensing for easy detection below the femtomolar range.
abstract: Highly sensitive detection of biomolecules is of paramount interest in many fields including biomedicine, safety and eco-pollution. Conventional analyses use well-established techniques with detection limits ~1 pM. Here we propose a pyro-concentrator able to accumulate biomolecules directly onto a conventional binding surface. The operation principle is relatively simple but very effective. Tiny droplets are drawn pyro-electro-dynamically and released onto a specific site, thus increasing the sensitivity. The reliability of the technique is demonstrated in case of labelled oligonucleotides diluted serially. The results show the possibility to detect very diluted oligonucleotides, down to a few hundreds of attomoles. Excellent results are shown also in case of a sample of clinical interest, the gliadin, where a 60-fold improved detection limit is reached, compared with standard ELISA. This method could open the way to a mass-based technology for sensing molecules at very low concentrations, in environmental as well as in diagnostics applications.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Optics, National Council of Research (CNR-INO), Via Campi Flegrei 34, 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grilli
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Optics, National Council of Research (CNR-INO), Via Campi Flegrei 34, 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Miccio
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Optics, National Council of Research (CNR-INO), Via Campi Flegrei 34, 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gennari
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Optics, National Council of Research (CNR-INO), Via Campi Flegrei 34, 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Coppola
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Optics, National Council of Research (CNR-INO), Via Campi Flegrei 34, 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vespini
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Optics, National Council of Research (CNR-INO), Via Campi Flegrei 34, 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Battista
authors.affiliation: 1] National Institute of Optics, National Council of Research (CNR-INO), Via Campi Flegrei 34, 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy [2] Institute of Protein Biochemistry, National Council of Research (CNR-IBP), Via Campi Flegrei 34, 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Orlando
authors.affiliation: 1] National Institute of Optics, National Council of Research (CNR-INO), Via Campi Flegrei 34, 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy [2] CNR-INO &CNR, "E. Caianiello", Via Campi Flegrei 34, 80078 Pozzuoli (NA), Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ferraro
mesh_terms: D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005903:Gliadin / Q000032:analysis*; D057230:Limit of Detection; D036103:Nanotechnology; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000032:analysis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D009841:Oligonucleotides; D005903:Gliadin