Automated detection and quantitation of bacterial RNA by using electrical microarrays.

Low-density electrical 16S rRNA specific oligonucleotide microarrays and an automated analysis system have been developed for the identification and quantitation of pathogens. The pathogens are Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis, which are typically involved in urinary tract infections. Interdigitated gold array electrodes (IDA-electrodes), which have structures in the nanometer range, have been used for very sensitive analysis. Thiol-modified oligonucleotides are immobilized on the gold IDA as capture probes. They mediate the specific recognition of the target 16S rRNA by hybridization. Additionally three unlabeled oligonucleotides are hybridized in close proximity to the capturing site. They are supporting molecules, because they improve the RNA hybridization at the capturing site. A biotin labeled detector oligonucleotide is also allowed to hybridize to the captured RNA sequence. The biotin labels enable the binding of avidin alkaline phophatase conjugates. The phosphatase liberates the electrochemical mediator p-aminophenol from its electrically inactive phosphate derivative. The electrical signals were generated by amperometric redox cycling and detected by a unique multipotentiostat. The read out signals of the microarray are position specific current and change over time in proportion to the analyte concentration. If two additional biotins are introduced into the affinity binding complex via the supporting oligonucleotides, the sensitivity of the assays increase more than 60%. The limit of detection of Escherichia coli total RNA has been determined to be 0.5 ng/microL. The control of fluidics for variable assay formats as well as the multichannel electrical read out and data handling have all been fully automated. The fast and easy procedure does not require any amplification of the targeted nucleic acids by PCR.

DNA hybridization detection on electrical microarrays using coulostatic pulse technique.

We demonstrated a novel application of transient coulostatic pulse technique for the detection of label free DNA hybridization on nm-sized gold interdigitated ultramicroelectrode arrays (Au-IDA) made in silicon technology. The array consists of eight different positions with an Au-IDA pair at each position arranged on the Si-based Biochip. Immobilization of capture probes onto the Au-IDA was accomplished by self-assembling of thiol-modified oligonucleotides. Target hybridization was indicated by a change in the magnitude of the time dependant potential relaxation curve in presence of electroactive Fe(CN)(6)(3-) in the phosphate buffer solution. While complementary DNA hybridization showed 50% increase in the relaxation potential, the non-complementary DNA showed a negligible change. A constant behaviour was noted for all positions. The dsDNA specific intercalating molecule, methylene blue, was found to be enhancing the discrimination effect. The changes in the relaxation potential curves were further corroborated following the ELISA like experiments using ExtraAvidine alkaline phosphatase labelling and redox recycling of para-aminophenol phosphate at IDAs. The coulostatic pulse technique was shown to be useful for identifying DNA sequences from brain tumour gene CK20, human herpes simplex virus, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus and M13 phage. Compared to the hybridization of short chain ONTs (27 mers), the hybridization of long chain M13 phage DNA showed three times higher increase in the relaxation curves. The method is fast enough to monitor hybridization interactions in milli or microsecond time scales and is well suitable for miniaturization and integration compared to the common impedance techniques for developing capacitative DNA sensors.

Matrix-induced fragmentation of P3'-N5' phosphoramidate-containing DNA: high-throughput MALDI-TOF analysis of genomic sequence polymorphisms.

Chemical and enzymatic approaches were used to produce polynucleotide fragments containing acid-labile internucleotide P3'-N5' phosphoramidate bonds, either in a surface-bound form or in solution. The primer extension reaction utilizing 5'-amino-5'-deoxynucleoside 5'-triphosphates generates polynucleotides that can be fragmented into short, easy-to-analyze pieces simply by being premixed with the acidic matrices typically used for MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry of nucleic acids. This leads to detection procedures that are simple, robust and easy to automate. Utilizing this approach, a polymorphic site in the human ADRB3 gene was interrogated. Primer extensions with phosphoramidate analogs of dNTPs allowed for unambiguous discrimination of all possible genotypes.

Analysis of ligase chain reaction products via matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight-mass spectrometry.

A rapid and accurate detection of ligation products generated in ligase chain reactions (LCR) by using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) is reported. LCR with Pfu DNA ligase was performed with a wild-type template and a template carrying a single point mutation within the Escherichia coli lacI gene as a model system. Starting from about 1 fmol of template DNA the ligation product generated in the positive reactions was analyzed with HPLC and MALDI-TOF-MS, whereby the need of proper sample purification prior to mass spectrometric analysis was demonstrated. A purification procedure with a high potential for automation using streptavidin-coated magnetic particles and ultrafiltration was introduced. Plasmid DNA and short single-stranded oligonucleotides have been used as template. A point mutation could be discriminated from the wild-type template due to the absence or presence of ligation product. This approach allows the rapid-specific detection of template DNA in femtomole amounts and moreover can distinguish between sequence variations in DNA molecules down to point mutations without the need for labeling, gel electrophoresis, membrane transfer, or hybridization procedures.