Liquid crystal-amplified optofluidic biosensor for ultra-highly sensitive and stable protein assay

Ziyihui Wang; Yize Liu; Chaoyang Gong; Zhiyi Yuan; Liang Shen; Pengxiang Chang; Kun Liu; Tianhua Xu; Junfeng Jiang; Yu-Cheng Chen; Tiegen Liu

doi:10.1186/s43074-021-00041-1

Liquid crystal-amplified optofluidic biosensor for ultra-highly sensitive and stable protein assay

doi: 10.1186/s43074-021-00041-1

基金项目:

Nation Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61735011).

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出版历程
- 收稿日期: 2021-03-30
- 录用日期: 2021-08-03
- 网络出版日期: 2021-08-28

Liquid crystal-amplified optofluidic biosensor for ultra-highly sensitive and stable protein assay

1.
School of Precision Instrument and Opto-Electronics Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China
2.
School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 639798, Singapore
3.
School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK

Funds:

Nation Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61735011).

摘要

摘要: Protein assays show great importance in medical research and disease diagnoses. Liquid crystals (LCs), as a branch of sensitive materials, offer promising applicability in the field of biosensing. Herein, we developed an ultrasensitive biosensor for the detection of low-concentration protein molecules, employing LC-amplified optofluidic resonators. In this design, the orientation of LCs was disturbed by immobilized protein molecules through the reduction of the vertical anchoring force from the alignment layer. A biosensing platform based on the whispering-gallery mode (WGM) from the LC-amplified optofluidic resonator was developed and explored, in which the spectral wavelength shift was monitored as the sensing parameter. The microbubble structure provided a stable and reliable WGM resonator with a high Q factor for LCs. It is demonstrated that the wall thickness of the microbubble played a key role in enhancing the sensitivity of the LC-amplified WGM microcavity. It is also found that protein molecules coated on the internal surface of microbubble led to their interactions with laser beams and the orientation transition of LCs. Both effects amplified the target information and triggered a sensitive wavelength shift in WGM spectra. A detection limit of 1 fM for bovine serum albumin (BSA) was achieved to demonstrate the high-sensitivity of our sensing platform in protein assays. Compared to the detection using a conventional polarized optical microscope (POM), the sensitivity was improved by seven orders of magnitude. Furthermore, multiple types of proteins and specific biosensing were also investigated to verify the potential of LC-amplified optofluidic resonators in the biomolecular detection. Our studies indicate that LC-amplified optofluidic resonators offer a new solution for the ultrasensitive real-time biosensing and the characterization of biomolecular interactions.
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Abstract: Protein assays show great importance in medical research and disease diagnoses. Liquid crystals (LCs), as a branch of sensitive materials, offer promising applicability in the field of biosensing. Herein, we developed an ultrasensitive biosensor for the detection of low-concentration protein molecules, employing LC-amplified optofluidic resonators. In this design, the orientation of LCs was disturbed by immobilized protein molecules through the reduction of the vertical anchoring force from the alignment layer. A biosensing platform based on the whispering-gallery mode (WGM) from the LC-amplified optofluidic resonator was developed and explored, in which the spectral wavelength shift was monitored as the sensing parameter. The microbubble structure provided a stable and reliable WGM resonator with a high Q factor for LCs. It is demonstrated that the wall thickness of the microbubble played a key role in enhancing the sensitivity of the LC-amplified WGM microcavity. It is also found that protein molecules coated on the internal surface of microbubble led to their interactions with laser beams and the orientation transition of LCs. Both effects amplified the target information and triggered a sensitive wavelength shift in WGM spectra. A detection limit of 1 fM for bovine serum albumin (BSA) was achieved to demonstrate the high-sensitivity of our sensing platform in protein assays. Compared to the detection using a conventional polarized optical microscope (POM), the sensitivity was improved by seven orders of magnitude. Furthermore, multiple types of proteins and specific biosensing were also investigated to verify the potential of LC-amplified optofluidic resonators in the biomolecular detection. Our studies indicate that LC-amplified optofluidic resonators offer a new solution for the ultrasensitive real-time biosensing and the characterization of biomolecular interactions.
- Liquid crystal /
- Biosensor /
- Protein assay /
- Whispering-gallery mode /
- Microfluidic

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参考文献(41)

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Liquid crystal-amplified optofluidic biosensor for ultra-highly sensitive and stable protein assay

doi: 10.1186/s43074-021-00041-1

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Liquid crystal-amplified optofluidic biosensor for ultra-highly sensitive and stable protein assay

doi: 10.1186/s43074-021-00041-1

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