Zhang Chunsun, Xu Jinliang, Ma Wenli, Zheng Wenling
Micro-Energy System Laboratory, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 1 Nengyuan Road, Wushan, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510640, PR China.
Biotechnol Adv. 2006 May-Jun;24(3):243-84. doi: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2005.10.002. Epub 2005 Dec 2.
The miniaturization of biological and chemical analytical devices by micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) technology has posed a vital influence on such fields as medical diagnostics, microbial detection and other bio-analysis. Among many miniaturized analytical devices, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) microchip/microdevices are studied extensively, and thus great progress has been made on aspects of on-chip micromachining (fabrication, bonding and sealing), choice of substrate materials, surface chemistry and architecture of reaction vessel, handling of necessary sample fluid, controlling of three or two-step temperature thermocycling, detection of amplified nucleic acid products, integration with other analytical functional units such as sample preparation, capillary electrophoresis (CE), DNA microarray hybridization, etc. However, little has been done on the review of above-mentioned facets of the PCR microchips/microdevices including the two formats of flow-through and stationary chamber in spite of several earlier reviews [Zorbas, H. Miniature continuous-flow polymerase chain reaction: a breakthrough? Angew Chem Int Ed 1999; 38 (8):1055-1058; Krishnan, M., Namasivayam, V., Lin, R., Pal, R., Burns, M.A. Microfabricated reaction and separation systems. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2001; 12:92-98; Schneegabeta, I., Köhler, J.M. Flow-through polymerase chain reactions in chip themocyclers. Rev Mol Biotechnol 2001; 82:101-121; deMello, A.J. DNA amplification: does 'small' really mean 'efficient'? Lab Chip 2001; 1: 24N-29N; Mariella, Jr. R. MEMS for bio-assays. Biomed Microdevices 2002; 4 (2):77-87; deMello AJ. Microfluidics: DNA amplification moves on. Nature 2003; 422:28-29; Kricka, L.J., Wilding, P. Microchip PCR. Anal BioAnal Chem 2003; 377:820-825]. In this review, we survey the advances of the above aspects among the PCR microfluidic devices in detail. Finally, we also illuminate the potential and practical applications of PCR microfluidics to some fields such as microbial detection and disease diagnosis, based on the DNA/RNA templates used in PCR microfluidics. It is noted, especially, that this review is to help a novice in the field of on-chip PCR amplification to more easily find the original papers, because this review covers almost all of the papers related to on-chip PCR microfluidics.
通过微机电系统（MEMS）技术实现生物和化学分析设备的小型化，已对医学诊断、微生物检测及其他生物分析等领域产生了至关重要的影响。在众多小型化分析设备中，聚合酶链反应（PCR）微芯片/微器件得到了广泛研究，因此在芯片微加工（制造、键合和密封）、基底材料选择、反应容器的表面化学和结构、必要样品流体的处理、三步或两步温度热循环控制、扩增核酸产物的检测以及与其他分析功能单元（如样品制备、毛细管电泳（CE）、DNA微阵列杂交等）的集成等方面均取得了巨大进展。然而，尽管已有几篇早期综述[佐巴斯，H. 微型连续流聚合酶链反应：一项突破？《德国应用化学》国际版1999年；38（8）：1055 - 1058；克里希南，M.，纳马西瓦亚姆，V.，林，R.，帕尔，R.，伯恩斯，M.A. 微制造反应和分离系统。《当代生物技术》2001年；12：92 - 98；施内加贝塔，I.，克勒，J.M. 芯片热循环仪中的连续流聚合酶链反应。《分子生物技术综述》2001年；82：101 - 121；德梅洛，A.J. DNA扩增：“小”真的意味着“高效”吗？《芯片实验室》2001年；1：24N - 29N；小马里埃拉，R. MEMS用于生物测定。《生物医学微器件》2002年；4（2）：77 - 87；德梅洛，A.J. 微流体学：DNA扩增继续发展。《自然》2003年；422：28 - 29；克里卡，L.J.，威尔丁，P. 微芯片PCR。《分析生物分析化学》2003年；377：820 - 825]，但对于PCR微芯片/微器件上述方面的综述却很少，其中包括流通式和固定腔室这两种形式。在本综述中，我们详细考察了PCR微流控设备在上述方面的进展。最后，基于PCR微流控中使用的DNA/RNA模板，我们还阐述了PCR微流控在微生物检测和疾病诊断等一些领域的潜在及实际应用。尤其需要指出的是，本综述旨在帮助芯片上PCR扩增领域的新手更轻松地找到原始论文，因为本综述涵盖了几乎所有与芯片上PCR微流控相关的论文。
