posted on 2020-04-01, 19:39authored byHyewon Lee, Jiseok Lee, Seung-Goo Lee, Patrick S. Doyle
Although microRNA
(miRNA) expression levels provide important information
regarding disease states owing to their unique dysregulation patterns
in tissues, translation of miRNA diagnostics into point-of-care (POC)
settings has been limited by practical challenges. Here, we developed
a hydrogel-based microfluidic platform for colorimetric profiling
of miRNAs, without the use of complex external equipment for fluidics
and imaging. For sensitive and reliable measurement without the risk
of sequence bias, we employed a gold deposition-based signal amplification
scheme and dark-field imaging, and seamlessly integrated a previously
developed miRNA assay scheme into this platform. The assay demonstrated
a limit of detection of 260 fM, along with multiplexing of small panels
of miRNAs in healthy and cancer samples. We anticipate this versatile
platform to facilitate a broad range of POC profiling of miRNAs in
cancer-associated dysregulation with high-confidence by exploiting
the unique features of hydrogel substrate in an on-chip format and
colorimetric analysis.