title: Versatile microfluidic complement fixation test for disease biomarker detection.
abstract: The complement fixation test (CFT) is a serological test that can be used to detect the presence of specific antibodies or antigens to diagnose infections, particularly diseases caused by microbes that are not easily detected by standard culture methods. We report here, for the first time, a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)/glass slide hybrid microfluidic device that was used to manipulate the solution compartment and communication within the microchannel to establish sampler and indicator systems of CFT. Two types of on-chip CFT, solution-based and solid phase agar-based assays, were successfully demonstrated for biomarker carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and recombinant avian influenza A (rH7N9) virus protein detection. In addition, the feasibility of the on-chip CFT in assaying real biopsy was successfully demonstrated by specifically detecting rH7N9 and CEA in human serum. The results demonstrated that the miniaturized assay format significantly reduced the assay time and sample consumption. Exemption from protein immobilization, blocking, complicated washing steps and expensive enzyme/fluorescein conjugates highlights the merits of on-chip CFT over ELISA. Most attractively, the on-chip agar-based CFT results can be imaged and analysed by smartphone, strengthening its point-of-care application potential. We anticipate that the on-chip CFT reported herein will be a useful supplemental or back-up tool for on-chip immunoassays such as ELISA for disease diagnosis and food inspection.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Clean Energy & Advanced Materials, Faculty of Materials & Energy, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Rapid Diagnosis of Fatal Diseases, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Man
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute for Clean Energy & Advanced Materials, Faculty of Materials & Energy, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Rapid Diagnosis of Fatal Diseases, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: ZhuanZhuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: School of Computer and Information Science, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Can
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Clean Energy & Advanced Materials, Faculty of Materials & Energy, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Rapid Diagnosis of Fatal Diseases, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: AnXiu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Institute for Clean Energy & Advanced Materials, Faculty of Materials & Energy, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Rapid Diagnosis of Fatal Diseases, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Chang Ming
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute for Clean Energy & Advanced Materials, Faculty of Materials & Energy, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Rapid Diagnosis of Fatal Diseases, Chongqing 400715, China. Electronic address: lingyu12@swu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis*; D003168:Complement Fixation Tests; D006801:Humans; D044085:Microfluidics
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Complement fixation test; Microfluidic; Point-of-care test; Serological test