Circle-to-circle amplification on a digital microfluidic chip for amplified single molecule detection

Isothermal Amplification of Nucleic Acids

Isothermal amplification of nucleic acids is a simple process that rapidly and efficiently accumulates nucleic acid sequences at constant temperature. Since the early 1990s, various isothermal amplification techniques have been developed as alternatives to polymerase chain reaction (PCR). These isothermal amplification methods have been used for biosensing targets such as DNA, RNA, cells, proteins, small molecules, and ions. The applications of these techniques for in situ or intracellular bioimaging and sequencing have been amply demonstrated. Amplicons produced by isothermal amplification methods have also been utilized to construct versatile nucleic acid nanomaterials for promising applications in biomedicine, bioimaging, and biosensing. The integration of isothermal amplification into microsystems or portable devices improves nucleic acid-based on-site assays and confers high sensitivity. Single-cell and single-molecule analyses have also been implemented based on integrated microfluidic systems. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the isothermal amplification of nucleic acids encompassing work published in the past two decades. First, different isothermal amplification techniques are classified into three types based on reaction kinetics. Then, we summarize the applications of isothermal amplification in bioanalysis, diagnostics, nanotechnology, materials science, and device integration. Finally, several challenges and perspectives in the field are discussed.

A Versatile Microfluidic Device for Automating Synthetic Biology

New microbes are being engineered that contain the genetic circuitry, metabolic pathways, and other cellular functions required for a wide range of applications such as producing biofuels, biobased chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. Although currently available tools are useful in improving the synthetic biology process, further improvements in physical automation would help to lower the barrier of entry into this field. We present an innovative microfluidic platform for assembling DNA fragments with 10× lower volumes (compared to that of current microfluidic platforms) and with integrated region-specific temperature control and on-chip transformation. Integration of these steps minimizes the loss of reagents and products compared to that with conventional methods, which require multiple pipetting steps. For assembling DNA fragments, we implemented three commonly used DNA assembly protocols on our microfluidic device: Golden Gate assembly, Gibson assembly, and yeast assembly (i.e., TAR cloning, DNA Assembler). We demonstrate the utility of these methods by assembling two combinatorial libraries of 16 plasmids each. Each DNA plasmid is transformed into Escherichia coli or Saccharomyces cerevisiae using on-chip electroporation and further sequenced to verify the assembly. We anticipate that this platform will enable new research that can integrate this automated microfluidic platform to generate large combinatorial libraries of plasmids and will help to expedite the overall synthetic biology process.

Rapid and sensitive detection of antibiotic resistance on a programmable digital microfluidic platform

The widespread dissemination of CTX-M extended spectrum β-lactamases among Escherichia coli bacteria, both in nosocomial and community environments, is a challenge for diagnostic bacteriology laboratories. We describe a rapid and sensitive detection system for analysis of DNA containing the blaCTX-M-15 gene using isothermal DNA amplification by recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) on a digital microfluidic platform; active matrix electrowetting-on-dielectric (AM-EWOD). The devices have 16,800 electrodes that can be independently controlled to perform multiple and simultaneous droplet operations. The device includes an in-built impedance sensor for real time droplet position and size detection, an on-chip thermistor for temperature sensing and an integrated heater for regulating the droplet temperature. Automatic dispensing of droplets (45 nL) from reservoir electrodes is demonstrated with a coefficient of variation (CV) in volume of approximately 2%. The RPA reaction is monitored in real-time using exonuclease fluorescent probes. Continuous mixing of droplets during DNA amplification significantly improves target DNA detection by at least 100 times compared to a benchtop assay, enabling the detection of target DNA over four-order-of-magnitude with a limit of detection of a single copy within ~15 minutes.

Investigating the fluid dynamics of rapid processes within microfluidic devices using bright-field microscopy

The widespread application of microfluidic devices in the biological and chemical sciences requires the implementation of complex designs and geometries, which in turn leads to atypical fluid dynamic phenomena. Accordingly, a complete understanding of fluid dynamics in such systems is key in the facile engineering of novel and efficient analytical tools. Herein, we present an accurate approach for studying the fluid dynamics of rapid processes within microfluidic devices using bright-field microscopy with white light illumination and a standard high-speed camera. Specifically, we combine Ghost Particle Velocimetry and the detection of moving objects in automated video surveillance to track submicron size tracing particles via cross correlation between the speckle patterns of successive images. The efficacy of the presented technique is demonstrated by measuring the flow field over a square pillar (80 μm × 80 μm) in a 200 μm wide microchannel at high volumetric flow rates. Experimental results are in excellent agreement with those obtained via computational fluid dynamics simulations. The method is subsequently used to study the dynamics of droplet generation at a flow focusing microfluidic geometry. A unique feature of the presented technique is the ability to perform velocimetry analysis of high-speed phenomena, which is not possible using micron-resolution particle image velocimetry (μPIV) approaches based on confocal or fluorescence microscopy.

Digital microfluidics for time-resolved cytotoxicity studies on single non-adherent yeast cells

Single cell analysis (SCA) has gained increased popularity for elucidating cellular heterogeneity at genomic, proteomic and cellular levels. Flow cytometry is considered as one of the most widely used techniques to characterize single cell responses; however, its inability to analyse cells with spatio-temporal resolution poses a major drawback. Here, we introduce a digital microfluidic (DMF) platform as a useful tool for conducting studies on isolated yeast cells in a high-throughput fashion. The reported system exhibits (i) a microwell array for trapping single non-adherent cells by shuttling a cell-containing droplet over the array, and allows (ii) implementation of high-throughput cytotoxicity assays with enhanced spatio-temporal resolution. The system was tested for five different concentrations of the antifungal drug Amphotericin B, and the cell responses were monitored over time by time lapse fluorescence microscopy. The DMF platform was validated by bulk experiments, which mimicked the DMF experimental design. A correlation analysis revealed that the results obtained on the DMF platform are not significantly different from those obtained in bulk; hence, the DMF platform can be used as a tool to perform SCA on non-adherent cells, with spatio-temporal resolution. In addition, no external forces, other than the physical forces generated by moving the droplet, were used to capture single cells, thereby avoiding cell damage. As such, the information on cellular behaviour during treatment could be obtained for every single cell over time making this platform noteworthy in the field of SCA.

Rapid and multiplex detection of Legionella's RNA using digital microfluidics

Despite recent advances in the miniaturization and automation of biosensors, technologies for on-site monitoring of environmental water are still at an early stage of development. Prevention of outbreaks caused by pathogens such as Legionella pneumophila would be facilitated by the development of sensitive and specific bioanalytical assays that can be easily integrated in miniaturized fluidic handling systems. In this work, we report on the integration of an amplification-free assay in digital microfluidics (DMF) for the detection of Legionella bacteria based on targeting 16s rRNA. We first review the design of the developed DMF devices, which provide the capability to store up to one hundred nL-size droplets simultaneously, and discuss the challenges involved with on-chip integration of the RNA-based assay. By optimizing the various steps of the assay, including magnetic capture, hybridization duration, washing steps, and assay temperature, a limit of detection as low as 1.8 attomoles of synthetic 16s rRNA was obtained, which compares advantageously to other amplification-free detection systems. Finally, we demonstrate the specificity of the developed assay by performing multiplex detection of 16s rRNAs from a pathogenic and a non-pathogenic species of Legionella. We believe the developed DMF devices combined with the proposed detection system offers new prospects for the deployment of rapid and cost-effective technologies for on-site monitoring of pathogenic bacteria.

A general method for rapid determination of antibiotic susceptibility and species in bacterial infections

To ensure correct antibiotic treatment and reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics, there is an urgent need for new rapid methods for species identification and determination of antibiotic susceptibility in infectious pathogenic bacteria. We have developed a general method for the rapid identification of the bacterial species causing an infection and the determination of their antibiotic susceptibility profiles. An initial short cultivation step in the absence and presence of different antibiotics was combined with sensitive species-specific padlock probe detection of the bacterial target DNA to allow a determination of growth (i.e., resistance) and no growth (i.e., susceptibility). A proof-of-concept was established for urinary tract infections in which we applied the method to determine the antibiotic susceptibility profiles of Escherichia coli for two drugs with 100% accuracy in 3.5 h. The short assay time from sample to readout enables fast appropriate treatment with effective drugs and minimizes the need to prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics due to unknown resistance profiles of the treated infection.