This study describes a simple and low cost method for fabricating enclosed transparent hydrophilic nanochannels by coating low-viscosity PDMS (monoglycidyl ether-terminated polydimethylsiloxane) as an adhesion layer onto the surface of the nanotrenches that are molded with a urethane-based UV-curable polymer, Norland Optical Adhesive (NOA 63). In detail, the nanotrenches made of NOA 63 were replicated from a Si master mold and coated with 6 nm thick layer of PDMS. These nanotrenches underwent an oxygen plasma treatment and finally were bound to a cover glass by chemical bonding between silanol and hydroxyl groups. Hydrophobic recovery that is observed in the bulk PDMS was not observed in the thin film of PDMS on the mold and the PDMS-coated nanochannel maintained its surface hydrophilicity for at least one month. The potentials of the nanochannels for bioapplications were demonstrated by stretching λ-DNA (48,502 bp) in the channels. Therefore, this fabrication approach provides a practical solution for the simple fabrication of the nanochannels for bioapplications.

We report a diagnostic method for Anaplasma phagocytophilum (A. phagocytophilum) infection in cattle using a nested PCR and microchip electrophoresis (ME). A. phagocytophilum causes human granulocytic anaplasmosis and granulocytic ehrlichiosis, which are emerging tick-borne zoonotic diseases. Nested PCR was used to amplify genomic DNA samples extracted from cattle blood. The amplified PCR products were analyzed under a sieving gel matrix of 0.7% poly(ethyleneoxide) (M r 5 8 000 000) in a conventional glass microchip. In the ME assay, A. phagocytophilum was analyzed within 35 s with a relative standard deviation of 1.30% (n 5 5) using a programmed field strength gradient (PFSG) as follows: 615.3 V/cm for 0-24 s, 66.7 V/cm for 24-34 s, 615.3 V/cm for 34-100 s. The ME-PFSG assay was clinically validated by comparing the 16S rRNA gene levels obtained by this method with those measured using conventional slab gel electrophoresis performed with ten cattle blood samples suspected of A. phagocytophilum infection. In contrast to slab gel electrophoresis, the proposed ME-PFSG methodology had increased sensitivity (200-450 pg/mL), a faster analysis time (o35 s), and required a smaller sample volume ($162 fL).

A microchip electrophoresis (ME) method was developed using a programmed field strength gradients (PFSG) for the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) based fast identification of cattle breeds. Four different Korean cattle (Hanwoo) and Holstein SNP markers amplified by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction were separated in a glass microchip filled with 0.5% poly(ethyleneoxide) (Mr = 8 000 000) by PFSG as follows: 750 V/cm for 0 -14 s, 166.7 V/cm for 14 -31 s, 83.3 V/cm for 31 -46 s, and 750 V/cm for 46 -100 s. The cattle breeds were clearly distinguished within 45 s. The ME-PFSG method was 7 times and 5 times faster than the constant electric field ME method and the capillary electrophoresis-PFSG method, respectively, with a high resolving power (Rs = 5.05 -9.98). The proposed methodology could be a powerful tool for the fast and simultaneous determination of SNP markers for various cattle breeds with high accuracy.

Novel probe development for positron emission tomography (PET) is leading to expanding the scope of molecular imaging. To begin responding to challenges, several biomaterials such as natural products and small molecules, peptides, engineered proteins including affibodies, and antibodies have been used in the development of targeted molecular imaging probes. To prepare radiotracers, a few bioactive materials are unique challenges to radiolabelling because of their complex structure, poor stability, poor solubility in aqueous or chemical organic solutions, and sensitivity to temperature and nonphysiological pH. To overcome these challenges, we developed a new radiolabelling strategy based on photoactivated 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between alkene dipolarophile and tetrazole moiety containing compounds. Herein, we describe a light-triggered radiochemical synthesis via photoactivated click reaction to prepare 18F-radiolabelled PET tracers using small molecular and RGD peptide.