Volume 6, Number 4, 479-487, DOI: 10.1007/s10404-008-0322-4

An aptamer-based microfluidic device for thermally controlled affinity extraction

ThaiHuu Nguyen, Renjun Pei, Milan Stojanovic and Qiao Lin

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Abstract

We present a microfluidic device for specific extraction and thermally activated release of analytes using nucleic acid aptamers. The device primarily consists of a microchamber that is packed with aptamer-functionalized microbeads as a stationary phase, and integrated with a micro heater and temperature sensor. We demonstrate the device operation by performing the extraction of a metabolic analyte, adenosine monophosphate coupled with thiazole orange (TO-AMP), with high selectivity to an RNA aptamer. Controlled release of TO-AMP from the aptamer surface is then conducted at low temperatures using on-chip thermal activation. This allows isocratic analyte elution, which eliminates the use of potentially harsh reagents, and enables efficient regeneration of the aptamer surfaces when device reusability is desired.

Keywords  Affinity binding - Isocratic elution - Microfluidics - Purification - Solid-phase extraction - Specificity - Thermal release

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