美國圣地亞國家實驗室（Sandia National Lab）的科學(xué)家最新發(fā)明了一種手持便攜式檢測儀，可以在幾分鐘內(nèi)利用少量唾液檢測出牙周病及其嚴(yán)重程度,。這是“芯片上的實驗室”在實際應(yīng)用中的最新進展,。相關(guān)論文發(fā)表在3月27日的《美國科學(xué)院院刊》上。
這種檢測儀不但將傳統(tǒng)檢測中的多個步驟整合到一個自動化儀器中,，而且只需要很少量的體液,，因此具有廣泛的應(yīng)用前景，包括診斷前列腺癌和乳腺癌,，以及在疫苗開發(fā)中的動物模型的快速血清檢測,。該技術(shù)引起了大學(xué)和產(chǎn)業(yè)界的廣泛興趣，因此圣地亞國家實驗室已經(jīng)將該技術(shù)申請了專利,。
密歇根大學(xué)的科學(xué)家們對這種新式檢測儀進行了一項前期研究,，將檢測儀的結(jié)果與臨床檢測結(jié)果相比較，以確定牙周炎的生物標(biāo)記的數(shù)量,。
生物醫(yī)學(xué)家們一直懷疑蛋白質(zhì)的種類或者數(shù)量的變化可以成為檢測疾病的生物標(biāo)記,，這項新式檢測儀正是基于這種原理而產(chǎn)生的。圣地亞國家實驗室的研究人員特別研究了唾液中的某一種酶,，證明這種假說是成立的,。
因為牙周炎是階段性的，醫(yī)生們需要知道牙周炎的發(fā)病階段,，才能最有效地予以治療,。科學(xué)家們監(jiān)測的這種酶會隨著病情的好轉(zhuǎn)逐漸減少或者穩(wěn)定下來,。
利用可重復(fù)使用的“芯片上的實驗室”,，這種裝置以聚丙烯酰胺凝膠為材料制成分子篩，給這種多孔凝膠加低壓電流（微安培級）所產(chǎn)生的電泳過程會促使帶電蛋白質(zhì)穿過凝膠,。因為這種凝膠的質(zhì)地非常均勻,，只允許較小的分子通過，而阻隔較大的分子,，唾液中的蛋白質(zhì)可以很快被分離,。在這項分離過程之前，蛋白質(zhì)要首先與某些被發(fā)光分子標(biāo)記的抗體接觸,，這些抗體能夠“綁定”特定生物標(biāo)記,。用激光清點這些合成分子——生物標(biāo)記與發(fā)光抗體的結(jié)合物，就可以得到生物標(biāo)記的數(shù)量,，進而確定牙周炎的嚴(yán)重程度,。
原始出處：http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-03/dnl-shi032907.php
部分英文原文：
Microfluidic immunoassays as rapid saliva-based clinical diagnostics
Amy E. Herr,, Anson V. Hatch, Daniel J. Throckmorton, Huu M. Tran, James S. Brennan, William V. Giannobile, and Anup K. Singh
Biosystems Research Department, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA 94550; and Michigan Center for Oral Research, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48106
Edited by Robert H. Austin, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, and approved January 11, 2007 (received for review August 21, 2006)
At present, point-of-care (POC) diagnostics typically provide a binary indication of health status (e.g., home pregnancy test strip). Before anticipatory use of diagnostics for assessment of complex diseases becomes widespread, development of sophisticated bioassays capable of quantitatively measuring disease biomarkers is necessary. Successful translation of new bioassays into clinical settings demands the ability to monitor both the onset and progression of disease. Here we report on a clinical POC diagnostic that enables rapid quantitation of an oral disease biomarker in human saliva by using a monolithic disposable cartridge designed to operate in a compact analytical instrument. Our microfluidic method facilitates hands-free saliva analysis by integrating sample pretreatment (filtering, enrichment, mixing) with electrophoretic immunoassays to quickly measure analyte concentrations in minimally pretreated saliva samples. Using 20 µl of saliva, we demonstrate rapid (<10 min) measurement of the collagen-cleaving enzyme matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8) in saliva from healthy and periodontally diseased subjects. In addition to physiologically measurable indicators of periodontal disease, conventional measurements of salivary MMP-8 were used to validate the microfluidic assays described in this proof-of-principle study. The microchip-based POC diagnostic demonstrated is applicable to rapid, reliable measurement of proteinaceous disease biomarkers in biological fluids.
lab-on-a-chip | point-of-care | electrophoresis | periodontal disease | micro total analysis system
英文全文鏈接：www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/104/13/5268
