Microfluidic Immunosensing Platform Based on a Rolling Circle Amplification-Assisted DNA Dendrimer Probe for Portable and Sensitive Detection of Allergen-Specific IgE

The robust point-of-care platform for sensitive, multiplexed, and affordable detection of allergen-specific IgE (sIgE) is an urgent demand in component-resolved diagnostics. Here, we developed a microfluidic immunosensing platform based on a rolling circle amplification-assisted DNA dendrimer probe for sensitive detection of multiple sIgEs. The versatile multichannel microfluidic whole blood analytical device integrates cell filtration, recombinant antigen-modified magnetic enrichment, and DNA dendrimer probe-amplified signal transduction for portable on-chip analysis. Three sIgEs against common oyster allergens were simultaneously detected in blood samples by simple smartphone-based imaging without any pretreatment. The quantitative detection of multiple allergen-specific antibodies on the platform was achieved with limits of detection of less than 50 pg/mL, exhibiting superior sensitivity compared to most point-of-care testing. The detection results of 55 serum samples and 4 whole blood samples were 100% consistent with the ELISA results, confirming the accuracy and stability of our platform. Additionally, the reversible combination of hexahistidine6-tag and Ni-IMAC magbead was elegantly utilized on the immunosensing platform for desired reversibility. With the advantages of general applicability, high sensitivity, and reversibility, the DNA dendrimer-based microfluidic immunosensing platform provides great potential for the portable detection of immune proteins as a point-of-care platform in disease diagnostics and biological analysis.