Jing Xie

Early diagnosis of cancer is a major concern in clinical medicine. Recently, aptamer-based microfluidics have offered promising platforms for the sensitive detection of cancer biomarkers. This review summarizes the application of aptamer sensors in the microfluidic platform for cancer biomarker analysis. The materials for microfluidic aptamer biosensor fabrication, unique design based on microposts, materials for enhanced detection capability, and the application principle of combining with other detection methods are introduced in detail, so as to demonstrate its development potential in cancer diagnosis and personalized therapy. Finally, the challenges and opportunities for developing miniaturized diagnostic platforms are discussed.

Tetracycline residue in honey has become an increasingly important food safety problem. In this work, an ultrasensitive gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)-linked aptamer assay was developed to determine the tetracycline residue in honey. First, a tetracycline–bovine serum albumin conjugate coating was applied to a microplate. Then, with the incubation of AuNPs-linked aptamer, the fixed tetracycline in the microplate competed for the limited aptamer with the free tetracycline in the sample. Higher amounts of free tetracycline in the sample were associated with more competitive binding of aptamer-AuNPs, and the aptamer-AuNPs binding with tetracycline-BSA was lower. Finally, as a kind of nanozyme, AuNPs exhibited peroxidase activity and oxidized 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine, transforming it from colorless to blue, and achieving the measurement at 652 nm. The analytical performance—including linearity, limit of detection, selectivity, precision, repeatability, and accuracy—has been investigated. It was successfully applied to the determination of tetracycline in honey samples with high accuracy and sensitivity.

In this work, a label-free colorimetric assay was developed for the determination of urine glucose using smartphone ambient-light sensor (ALS). Using horseradish peroxidase—hydrogen peroxide—3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (HRP-H₂O₂-TMB) colored system, quantitative H₂O₂ was added to samples to-be-determined for deepest color. The presence of glucose oxidase in urine led to the formation of H₂O₂ and the reduction of TMB_red. As a result of this, the color of the urine faded and the solution changed from deep blue to light blue. We measured the illuminance of the transmitted light by a smartphone ambient light sensor, and thereby color changes were used to calculate the content of urine glucose. After method validation, this colorimetric assay was practically applied for the determination of urine samples from diabetic patients. Good linearity was obtained in the range of 0.039–10.000 mg/mL (R² = 0.998), and a limit of detection was 0.005 mg/mL. Our method was had high accuracy, sensitivity, simplicity, rapidity, and visualization, providing a new sensor to be potentially applicable for point-of-care detection of urine glucose.

So far, there is no report on the quality evaluation of lemonade available in the market. In this study, a sample preparation method was developed for the determination of flavonoid glycosides by ultra-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) based on vortex-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction. First, potential flavonoids in lemonade were scanned and identified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography–time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-TOF/MS). Five flavonoid glycosides were identified as eriocitrin, narirutin, hesperidin, rutin, and diosmin according to the molecular formula provided by TOF/MS and subsequent confirmation of the authentic standard. Then, an ultra-performance liquid chromatography–triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC-QqQ/MS) method was developed to determine these five flavonoid glycosides in lemonade. The results showed that the content of rutin in some lemonade was unreasonably high. We suspected that many illegal manufacturers achieved the goal of low-cost counterfeiting lemonade by adding rutin. This suggested that it was necessary for relevant departments of the state to make stricter regulations on the quality standards of lemonade beverages.