Department of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
Wiley Interdiscip Rev Nanomed Nanobiotechnol. 2018 Nov;10(6):e1522. doi: 10.1002/wnan.1522. Epub 2018 May 24.
Biomarkers are nucleic acids, proteins, single cells, or small molecules in human tissues or biological fluids whose reliable detection can be used to confirm or predict disease and disease states. Sensitive detection of biomarkers is therefore critical in a variety of applications including disease diagnostics, therapeutics, and drug screening. Unfortunately for many diseases, low abundance of biomarkers in human samples and low sample volumes render standard benchtop platforms like 96-well plates ineffective for reliable detection and screening. Discretization of bulk samples into a large number of small volumes (fL-nL) via droplet microfluidic technology offers a promising solution for high-sensitivity and high-throughput detection and screening of biomarkers. Several microfluidic strategies exist for high-throughput biomarker digitization into droplets, and these strategies have been utilized by numerous droplet platforms for nucleic acid, protein, and single-cell detection and screening. While the potential of droplet-based platforms has led to burgeoning interest in droplets, seamless integration of sample preparation technologies and automation of platforms from biological sample to answer remain critical components that can render these platforms useful in the clinical setting in the near future. This article is categorized under: Diagnostic Tools > Biosensing Diagnostic Tools > Diagnostic Nanodevices Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Infectious Disease.
生物标志物是指存在于人体组织或生物流体中的核酸、蛋白质、单细胞或小分子，其可靠检测可用于确认或预测疾病和疾病状态。因此，在疾病诊断、治疗和药物筛选等多种应用中，对生物标志物进行敏感检测至关重要。然而，对于许多疾病而言，由于生物样本中生物标志物的含量低且样本量少，标准台式平台（如 96 孔板）无法可靠地进行检测和筛选。通过液滴微流控技术将批量样品离散化为大量小体积（fL-nL）提供了一种有前途的解决方案，可用于生物标志物的高灵敏度和高通量检测和筛选。存在几种用于将生物标志物高通量数字化为液滴的微流控策略，并且这些策略已被许多液滴平台用于核酸、蛋白质和单细胞的检测和筛选。尽管基于液滴的平台具有很大的潜力，但是从生物样本到答案的无缝集成样本制备技术和平台自动化仍然是关键组成部分，这些平台在不久的将来可以在临床环境中得到应用。本文属于以下分类：诊断工具 > 生物传感诊断工具 > 诊断纳米器件治疗方法和药物发现 > 新兴技术治疗方法和药物发现 > 用于传染病的纳米医学。
