Nanophotonic Cell Lysis and Polymerase Chain Reaction with Gravity-Driven Cell Enrichment for Rapid Detection of Pathogens.

Abstract

Rapid and precise detection of pathogens is a critical step in the prevention and identification of emergencies related to health and biosafety as well as the clinical management of community-acquired urinary tract infections or sexually transmitted diseases. However, a conventional culture-based pathogen diagnostic method is time-consuming, permitting physicians to use antibiotics without ample clinical data. Here, we present a nanophotonic <u>L</u>ight-driven <u>I</u>ntegrated cell lysis and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on a chip with <u>G</u>ravity-driven cell enrichment <u>H</u>ealth <u>T</u>echnology (LIGHT) for rapid precision detection of pathogens (<20 min). We created the LIGHT, which has the three functions of (1) selective enrichment of pathogens, (2) photothermal cell lysis, and (3) photonic PCR on a chip. We designed the gravity-driven cell enrichment via a nanoporous membrane on a chip that allows an effective bacterial enrichment of 40 000-fold from a 1 mL sample in 2 min. We established a light-driven photothermal lysis of preconcentrated bacteria within 1 min by designing the network of nanoplasmonic optical antenna on a chip for ultrafast light-to-heat conversion, created the nanoplasmonic optical antenna network-based ultrafast photonic PCR on a chip, and identified <i>Escherichia coli</i>. Finally, we demonstrated the end-point detection of up to 10³ CFU/mL of <i>E. coli</i> in 10 min. We believe that our nanophotonic LIGHT will provide rapid and precise identification of pathogens in both developing and developed countries.