Integration of a Miniature Quartz Crystal Microbalance with a Microfluidic Chip for Amyloid Beta-Aβ42 Quantitation

• Main Authors: Wenyan Tao, Qingji Xie, Hairui Wang, Shanming Ke, Peng Lin, Xierong Zeng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2015-10-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: integration; miniature quartz crystal microbalance; polydimethylsiloxane; amyloid polypeptide–Aβ42
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/15/10/25746

A miniature quartz crystal microbalance (mQCM) was integrated with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic device for on-chip determination of amyloid polypeptide–Aβ42. The integration techniques included photolithography and plasma coupling. Aβ42 antibody was immobilized on the mQCM surface using a cross-linker method, and the resonance frequency of mQCM shifted negatively due to antibody-antigen binding. A linear range from 0.1 µM to 3.2 µM was achieved. By using matrix elimination buffer, i.e., matrix phosphate buffer containing 500 µg/mL dextran and 0.5% Tween 20, Aβ42 could be successfully detected in the presence of 75% human serum. Additionally, high temperature treatments at 150 °C provided a valid method to recover mQCM, and PDMS-mQCM microfluidic device could be reused to some extent. Since the detectable Aβ42 concentration could be as low as 0.1 µM, which is close to cut-off value for Alzheimer patients, the PDMS-mQCM device could be applied in early Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis.