Dielectrophoretic characterization of antibiotic-treated Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex cells.

Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has become a serious concern for proper treatment of patients. As a phenotypic method, dielectrophoresis can be useful but is yet to be attempted to evaluate Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex cells. This paper investigates the dielectrophoretic behavior of Mycobacterium bovis (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, BCG) cells that are treated with heat or antibiotics rifampin (RIF) or isoniazid (INH). The experimental parameters are designed on the basis of our sensitivity analysis. The medium conductivity (σ(m)) and the frequency (f) for a crossover frequency (f(xo1)) test are decided to detect the change of σ(m)-f(xo1) in conjunction with the drug mechanism. Statistical modeling is conducted to estimate the distributions of viable and nonviable cells from the discrete measurement of f (xo1). Finally, the parameters of the electrophysiology of BCG cells, C(envelope) and σ(cyto), are extracted through a sampling algorithm. This is the first evaluation of the dielectrophoresis (DEP) approach as a means to assess the effects of antimicrobial drugs on M. tuberculosis complex cells.

Amperometric immunosensor for rapid detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) has been a major public health problem, which can be better controlled by using accurate and rapid diagnosis in low-resource settings. A simple, portable, and sensitive detection method is required for point-of-care (POC) settings. This paper studies an amperometric biosensor using a microtip immunoassay for a rapid and low cost detection of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (MTB) in sputum. MTB in sputum is specifically captured on the functionalized microtip surface and detected by electric current. According to the numerical study, the current signal on microtip surface is linearly changed with increasing immersion depth. Using a reference microtip, the immersion depth is compensated for a sensing microtip. On the microtip surface, target bacteria are concentrated and organized by a coffee ring effect, which amplifies the electric current. To enhance the signal-to-noise ratio, both the sample processing- and rinsing steps are presented with use of deionized water as a medium for the amperometric measurement. When applied to cultured MTB cells spiked into human sputum, the detection limit was 100 CFU/mL, comparable to a more labor-intensive fluorescence detection method reported previously.

Immunofluorescence microtip sensor for point-of-care tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis.

A immunofluorescence microtip sensor was developed for specific detection of Mycobacterium cells in sputum samples by the combination of electric field, streaming flow, and immuno-affinity binding. The detection limit was 200 CFU/mL in human sputum, which was comparable to PCR but without requiring bacteriological culture, centrifugation, or nucleic acid amplification. In spite of the complex nature of physical, chemical, and biological mechanisms, the simple operation of "dipping and withdrawal" of tips will allow for screening by minimally trained personnel within 30 min. In addition, the minimal power requirement (5 W) combined with low assay cost is ideal for point-of-care (POC) screening in resource-limited settings.

Contact angle changes induced by immunocomplex formation.

Immunoassays analyzing interactions between antigens and antibodies can be affected by capillary action together with binding affinity. This paper studies contact-angle changes of bacterial suspensions on antibody immobilized surfaces. The capillary action and the dried pattern of the bacterial suspensions are analyzed and correlated with specific- and nonspecific bindings between bacteria and antibodies.

Semi-automated, occupationally safe immunofluorescence microtip sensor for rapid detection of Mycobacterium cells in sputum.

An occupationally safe (biosafe) sputum liquefaction protocol was developed for use with a semi-automated antibody-based microtip immunofluorescence sensor. The protocol effectively liquefied sputum and inactivated microorganisms including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, while preserving the antibody-binding activity of Mycobacterium cell surface antigens. Sputum was treated with a synergistic chemical-thermal protocol that included moderate concentrations of NaOH and detergent at 60°C for 5 to 10 min. Samples spiked with M. tuberculosis complex cells showed approximately 10(6)-fold inactivation of the pathogen after treatment. Antibody binding was retained post-treatment, as determined by analysis with a microtip immunosensor. The sensor correctly distinguished between Mycobacterium species and other cell types naturally present in biosafe-treated sputum, with a detection limit of 100 CFU/mL for M. tuberculosis, in a 30-minute sample-to-result process. The microtip device was also semi-automated and shown to be compatible with low-cost, LED-powered fluorescence microscopy. The device and biosafe sputum liquefaction method opens the door to rapid detection of tuberculosis in settings with limited laboratory infrastructure.

Microfluidic one-step synthesis of alginate microspheres immobilized with antibodies.

Micrometre- and submicrometre-size functionalized beads are frequently used to capture targets of interest from a biological sample for biological characterizations and disease diagnosis. The main challenge of the microbead-based assay is in the immobilization of probe molecules onto the microbead surfaces. In this paper, we report a versatile droplet microfluidics method to fabricate alginate microspheres while simultaneously immobilizing anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex IgY and anti-Escherichia coli IgG antibodies primarily on the porous alginate carriers for specific binding and binding affinity tests. The binding affinity of antibodies is directly measured by fluorescence intensity of stained target bacteria on the microspheres. We demonstrate that the functionalized alginate microspheres yield specificity comparable with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The high surface area-to-volume ratio of the functionalized porous alginate microspheres improves the detection limit. By using the droplet microfluidics, we can easily modify the size and shape of alginate microspheres, and increase the concentration of functionalized alginate microspheres to further enhance binding kinetics and enable multiplexing.

Nanotips for single-step preparation of DNA for qPCR analysis.

A single-step concentration and elution method is developed for detection of DNA in buffer, saliva, and blood. A nanotip capturing DNA using an electric field and capillary action is directly dissolved in buffer for qPCR analysis. The concentration yield and the relative parameters are compared with those of a commercial kit.

Electrolyte-free Amperometric Immunosensor using a Dendritic Nanotip.

Electric detection using a nanocomponent may lead to platforms for rapid and simple biosensing. Sensors composed of nanotips or nanodots have been described for highly sensitive amperometry enabled by confined geometry. However, both fabrication and use of nanostructured sensors remain challenging. This paper describes a dendritic nanotip used as an amperometric biosensor for highly sensitive detection of target bacteria. A dendritic nanotip is structured by Si nanowires coated with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) for generation of a high electric field. For reliable measurement using the dendritic structure, Si nanowires were uniformly fabricated by ultraviolet (UV) lithography and etching. The dendritic structure effectively increased the electric current density near the terminal end of the nanotip according to numerical computation. The electrical characteristics of a dendritic nanotip with additional protein layers was studied by cyclic voltammetry and I-V measurement in deionized (DI) water. When the target bacteria dielectrophoretically captured onto a nanotip were bound with fluorescence antibodies, the electric current through DI water decreased. Measurement results were consistent with fluorescence- and electron microscopy. The sensitivity of the amperometry was 10 cfu/sample volume (103 cfu/mL), which was equivalent to the more laborious fluorescence measurement method. The simple configuration of a dendritic nanotip can potentially offer an electrolyte-free detection platform for sensitive and rapid biosensors.

Nanotip analysis for dielectrophoretic concentration of nanosized viral particles.

Rapid and sensitive detection of low-abundance viral particles is strongly demanded in health care, environmental control, military defense, and homeland security. Current detection methods, however, lack either assay speed or sensitivity, mainly due to the nanosized viral particles. In this paper, we compare a dendritic, multi-terminal nanotip ('dendritic nanotip') with a single terminal nanotip ('single nanotip') for dielectrophoretic (DEP) concentration of viral particles. The numerical computation studies the concentration efficiency of viral particles ranging from 25 to 100 nm in radius for both nanotips. With DEP and Brownian motion considered, when the particle radius decreases by two times, the concentration time for both nanotips increases by 4-5 times. In the computational study, a dendritic nanotip shows about 1.5 times faster concentration than a single nanotip for the viral particles because the dendritic structure increases the DEP-effective area to overcome the Brownian motion. For the qualitative support of the numerical results, the comparison experiment of a dendritic nanotip and a single nanotip is conducted. Under 1 min of concentration time, a dendritic nanotip shows a higher sensitivity than a single nanotip. When the concentration time is 5 min, the sensitivity of a dendritic nanotip for T7 phage is 10(4) particles ml(-1). The dendritic nanotip-based concentrator has the potential for rapid identification of viral particles.

Dielectrophoretic concentration of low-abundance nanoparticles using a nanostructured tip.

Electric field-induced concentration has the potential for application in highly sensitive detection of nanoparticles (NPs) for disease diagnosis and drug discovery. Conventional two-dimensional planar electrodes, however, have shown limited sensitivity in NP concentration. In this paper, the dielectrophoretic (DEP) concentration of low-abundance NPs is studied using a nanostructured tip where a high electric field of 3 × 10(7) V m(-1) is generated. In experimental studies, individual 2, 10, and 100 nm Au NPs are concentrated to a nanotip using DEP concentration and are detected by scanning transmission and scanning electron microscopes. The DEP force on Au NPs near the end of a nanotip is computed according to the distance, and then compared with Brownian motion-induced force. The computational study shows qualitative agreement with the experimental results. When the experimental conditions for DEP concentration are optimized for 8 nm-long oligonucleotides, the sensitivity of a nanotip is 10 aM (10 attomolar; nine copies in a 1.5 µl sample volume). This DEP concentrator using a nanotip can be used for molecular detection without amplification.

Cryopreservation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex cells.

Successful long-term preservation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis cells is important for sample transport, research, biobanking, and the development of new drugs, vaccines, biomarkers, and diagnostics. In this report, Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin and M. tuberculosis H37Ra were used as models of M. tuberculosis complex strains to study cryopreservation of M. tuberculosis complex cells in diverse sample matrices at different cooling rates. Cells were cryopreserved in diverse sample matrices, namely, phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), Middlebrook 7H9 medium with or without added glycerol, and human sputum. The efficacy of cryopreservation was quantified by microbiological culture and microscopy with BacLight LIVE/DEAD staining. In all sample matrices examined, the microbiological culture results showed that the cooling rate was the most critical factor influencing cell viability. Slow cooling (a few degrees Celsius per minute) resulted in much higher M. tuberculosis complex recovery rates than rapid cooling (direct immersion in liquid nitrogen) (P < 0.05). Among the three defined cryopreservation media (PBS, 7H9, and 7H9 plus glycerol), there was no significant differential effect on viability (P = 0.06 to 0.87). Preincubation of thawed M. tuberculosis complex cells in 7H9 broth for 20 h before culture on solid Middlebrook 7H10 plates did not help the recovery of the cells from cryoinjury (P = 0.14 to 0.71). The BacLight LIVE/DEAD staining kit, based on Syto 9 and propidium iodide (PI), was also applied to assess cell envelope integrity after cryopreservation. Using the kit, similar percentages of "live" cells with intact envelopes were observed for samples cryopreserved under different conditions, which was inconsistent with the microbiological culture results. This implies that suboptimal cryopreservation might not cause severe damage to the cell wall and/or membrane but instead cause intracellular injury, which leads to the loss of cell viability.

Electric field guided assembly of one-dimensional nanostructures for high performance sensors.

Various nanowire or nanotube-based devices have been demonstrated to fulfill the anticipated future demands on sensors. To fabricate such devices, electric field-based methods have demonstrated a great potential to integrate one-dimensional nanostructures into various forms. This review paper discusses theoretical and experimental aspects of the working principles, the assembled structures, and the unique functions associated with electric field-based assembly. The challenges and opportunities of the assembly methods are addressed in conjunction with future directions toward high performance sensors.

Immunosensor towards low-cost, rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis.

A rapid, accurate tuberculosis diagnostic tool that is compatible with the needs of tuberculosis-endemic settings is a long-sought goal. An immunofluorescence microtip sensor is described that detects Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex cells in sputum in 25 minutes. Concentration mechanisms based on flow circulation and electric field are combined at different scales to concentrate target bacteria in 1 mL samples onto the surfaces of microscale tips. Specificity is conferred by genus-specific antibodies on the microtip surface. Immunofluorescence is then used to detect the captured cells on the microtip. The detection limit in sputum is 200 CFU mL(-1) with a success rate of 96%, which is comparable to PCR.

Assurance of mitochondrial integrity and mammalian longevity by the p62-Keap1-Nrf2-Nqo1 cascade.

Sqstm1/p62 functions in the non-canonical activation of nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2). However, its physiological relevance is not certain. Here, we show that p62(-/-) mice exhibited an accelerated presentation of ageing phenotypes, and tissues from these mice created a pro-oxidative environment owing to compromised mitochondrial electron transport. Accordingly, mitochondrial function rapidly declined with age in p62(-/-) mice. In addition, p62 enhanced basal Nrf2 activity, conferring a higher steady-state expression of NAD(P)H dehydrogenase, quinone 1 (Nqo1) to maintain mitochondrial membrane potential and, thereby, restrict excess oxidant generation. Together, the p62-Nrf2-Nqo1 cascade functions to assure mammalian longevity by stabilizing mitochondrial integrity.

Size-selective immunofluorescence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis cells by capillary- and viscous forces.

Rapid, low cost screening of tuberculosis requires an effective enrichment method of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) cells. Currently, microfiltration and centrifugation steps are frequently used for sample preparation, which are cumbersome and time-consuming. In this study, the size-selective capturing mechanism of a microtip-sensor is presented to directly enrich MTB cells from a sample mixture. When a microtip is withdrawn from a spherical suspension in the radial direction, the cells that are concentrated by AC electroosmosis are selectively enriched to the tip due to capillary- and viscous forces. The size-selectivity is characterized by using polystyrene microspheres, which is then applied to size-selective capture of MTB from a sample mixture. Our approach yields a detection limit of 800 cells mL(-1), one of the highest-sensitivity immunosensors to date.

Hybrid nanofibril assembly using an alternating current electric field and capillary action.

Various nanowire (or nanotube)-based devices have been investigated to fulfill future demands on semiconducting devices, nanoscale electromechanical systems, and biosensors. To fabricate such devices, an electric field-induced assembly method has demonstrated a great potential for one dimensional assembly. In this paper, our novel approaches for fabricating hybrid nanofibrils are presented to enhance the multiple functionalities, the production rate and the fibril length. These approaches offer unique opportunities for fabricating hybrid nanofibrils composed of silicon carbide (SiC) nanowires and single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs).

Size-specific concentration of DNA to a nanostructured tip using dielectrophoresis and capillary action.

One of the critical challenges in the fields of disease diagnostics and environmental monitoring is to concentrate extracellular DNA from a sample mixture rapidly. Unlike genomic DNA in normal cells, extracellular DNA dissolved in a biological sample can potentially offer crucial information about pathogens and toxins. The current concentration methods, however, are not able to directly concentrate extracellular DNA due to aggressive sample preparation steps. This paper presents a concentration mechanism of extracellular DNA onto a nanostructured tip using dielectrophoresis (DEP) in conjunction with capillary action. DNA immersed in a solution is captured onto a nanotip by two sequential actions: (1) attraction of DNA and other bioparticles in the vicinity of a nanotip by DEP and (2) size-specific capture of DNA onto the nanotip by capillary action. To investigate the size-specific capturing mechanism, an analytical model for the capillary action on a nanotip is presented, which is compared to the experiment for capturing polystyrene nanospheres. This analysis predicts the capture of a spherical particle smaller than 0.39 times a nanotip diameter, whereas our experiment shows that polystyrene spheres smaller than 0.84 times a nanotip diameter are captured. This discrepancy can be caused by the increase of the capturing force due to attractive DEP force. In addition, the diameter of the captured spheres can be increased by other experimental conditions including the tip geometry, the multiple particle interaction, and the contact angles. When a nanotip is used for concentrating lambda-DNA, 6.7 pg/mL (210 aM) of DNA is selectively extracted from a sample mixture containing lambda-DNA and Drosophila cells in one minute. The captured DNA is investigated by fluorescence microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray analysis. This nanotip-based DNA concentrating method is a rapid and highly sensitive technique to detect extracellular DNA from a sample mixture.

Rapid detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis cells by using microtip-based immunoassay.

This paper describes a microtip-based approach of concentrating target analytes for a highly sensitive bioassay. As an example, rapid screening of bacterial whole cells is presented to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), a pathogenic bacterium for human tuberculosis (TB). The concentration and detection is performed with three sequential steps of (1) attracting bacterial whole cells in the vicinity of a microtip by alternating current electroosmotic flow; (2) capturing the cells onto the microtip by capillary action; (3) binding fluorophore-labeled polyclonal antibodies to the cells followed by fluorescence measurement (immunofluorescence). Through this mechanism, MTB cells have been detected to the concentration of 8,000 cells/mL within 10 min. This sensitivity is comparable to that of Ziehl-Neelsen smear microscopy, a common culture-free screening method for diagnosis of TB. For comparison, Escherichia coli O157:H7 cells have also been detected to the concentration of 30,000 cells/mL in the same way.

Electron transfer mediator micro-biosensor fabrication by organic plasma process.

We propose a new strategy for constructing a mediator-type biosensor as a Bio-MicroElectroMechanical Systems (BioMEMS) application. A vinylferrocene plasma-polymerized film (PPF) was deposited directly onto the surface of an electrode under dry conditions. The resulting redox film was extremely thin, adhered well onto a substrate (electrode), and had a highly crosslinked network structure. This technique, capable of polymeric deposition of any kind of monomer, can also serve the purpose of anti-fouling coating, or layer-to-layer interface creation. With a subsequent plasma process, additional polymeric layer of hydrophilic acetonitrile was superimposed onto the existing vinylferrocene-PPF surface to offer crucial features such that the wettability could be adjusted for a better electron transfer, and amino functional groups could be attached to immobilize a large amount of enzyme. Based upon this scheme, the device fabrication could be designed in a manner that the whole procedure was made up of dry wafer-handling processes, which is compatible with mass production. A prototype device was fabricated to have an array of needle-shaped amperometric micro-biosensors. The resultant thin polymer layer carried a large number of the mediator molecules, accomplishing a lower overpotential (+410 mV) and a rapid response time (<5s). Stressing the advantages of the plasma polymerization process together with some additional features accomplished in our device fabrication, we would discuss new possibilities in the field of BioMEMS.

Organic plasma process for simple and substrate-independent surface modification of polymeric BioMEMS devices.

A polymeric bio micro electromechanical systems (BioMEMS) device was fabricated using organic plasma polymerization, by which the surface of a polymeric substrate could easily be modified through vapor-phase deposition of organic thin films. This technique, capable of polymeric deposition of any kind of monomer, can serve the purpose of anti-fouling coating, wettability control, or layer-to-layer interface creation, on the surface of any given chemically-inert polymeric substrate without involving cumbersome surface organic reactions. A prototype device was fabricated to have an array of electrochemical glucose biosensors with the three electrode configuration, each of which has a microfluidic channel (500 microm x 800 microm) for capillary-action-driven sample delivery and the concerned enzymatic reaction. Stressing the advantages of the plasma polymerization process using a polymeric substrate together with some additional features accomplished in our device fabrication, new possibilities in the field of polymeric BioMEMS are discussed.