polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is one of the most sensitive and powerful tools for clinical laboratories
precision medicine
personalized medicine
agricultural science
forensic science and environmental science. Ultrafast multiplex PCR
characterized by low power consumption
compact size and simple operation
is ideal for timely diagnosis at the point-of-care (POC). Although several fast/ultrafast PCR methods have been proposed
the use of a simple and robust PCR thermal cycler remains challenging for POC testing. Here
we present an ultrafast photonic PCR method using plasmonic photothermal light-to-heat conversion
via
photon–electron–phonon coupling. We demonstrate an efficient photonic heat converter using a thin gold (Au) film due to its plasmon-assisted high optical absorption (approximately 65% at 450 nm
the peak wavelength of heat source light-emitting diodes (LEDs)). The plasmon-excited Au film is capable of rapidly heating the surrounding solution to over 150 ℃ within 3 min. Using this method
ultrafast thermal cycling (30 cycles; heating and cooling rate of 12.79±0.93 ℃ s
−1
and 6.6±0.29 ℃ s
−1
respectively) from 55 ℃ (temperature of annealing) to 95 ℃ (temperature of denaturation) is accomplished within 5 min. Using photonic PCR thermal cycles
we demonstrate here successful nucleic acid (λ-DNA) amplification. Our simple
robust and low cost approach to ultrafast PCR using an efficient photonic-based heating procedure could be generally integrated into a variety of devices or procedures
including on-chip thermal lysis and heating for isothermal amplifications.
Heyries KA, Tropini C, VanInsberghe M, Doolin C, Petriv OIet al. Megapixel digital PCR.Nat Methods2011;8: 649–651..
Ottesen EA, Hong JW, Quake SR, Leadbetter JR. Microfluidic digital PCR enables multigene analysis of individual environmental bacteria.Science2006;314: 1464–1467..
Barker M. Clever PCR: more genotyping, smaller volumes.Nat Methods2010;7: 351–356..
Zhang C, Xing D. Miniaturized PCR chips for nucleic acid amplification and analysis: latest advances and future trends.Nucleic Acids Res2007;35: 4223–4237..
Postollec F, Falentin H, Pavan S, Combrisson J, Sohier D. Recent advances in quantitative PCR (qPCR) applications in food microbiology.Food Microbiol2011;28: 848–861..
Smith CJ, Osborn AM. Advantages and limitations of quantitative PCR (Q-PCR)-based approaches in microbial ecology.FEMS Microbiol Ecol2009;67: 6–20..
Girones R, Ferrús MA, Alonso JL, Rodriguez-Manzano J, Calgua Bet al. Molecular detection of pathogens in water—the pros and cons of molecular techniques.Water Res2010;44: 4325–4339..
Horsman KM, Bienvenue JM, Blasier KR, Landers JP. Forensic DNA analysis on microfluidic devices: a review.J Forensic Sci2007;52: 784–799..
Chang CM, Chang WH, Wang CH, Wang JH, Mai JDet al. Nucleic acid amplification using microfluidic systems.Lab Chip2013;13: 1225..
Lyon E, Wittwer CT. LightCycler technology in molecular diagnostics.J Mol Diagn2009;11: 93–101..
Liu P, Li X, Greenspoon SA, Scherer JR, Mathies RA. Integrated DNA purification, PCR, sample cleanup, and capillary electrophoresis microchip for forensic human identification.Lab Chip2011;11: 1041–1048..
Lagally ET, Emrich CA, Mathies RA. Fully integrated PCR-capillary electrophoresis microsystem for DNA analysis.Lab Chip2001;1: 102–107..
Kopp MU, Mello AJ, Manz A. Chemical amplification: continuous-flow PCR on a chip.Science1998;280: 1046..
Kim H, Vishniakou S, Faris GW. Petri dish PCR: laser-heated reactions in nanoliter droplet arrays.Lab Chip2009;9: 1230–1235..
Terazono H, Hattori A, Takei H, Takeda K, Yasuda K. Development of 1480 nm photothermal high-speed real-time polymerase chain reaction system for rapid nucleotide recognition.J J Appl Phys2008;47: 5212–5216..
Baffou G, Quidant R. Thermo-plasmonics: using metallic nanostructures as nano-sources of heat.Laser Photonics Rev2013;7: 171–187..
Webb JA, Bardhan R. Emerging advances in nanomedicine with engineered gold nanostructures.Nanoscale2014;6: 2502..
Huang X, El-Sayed IH, Qian W, El-Sayed MA. Cancer cell imaging and photothermal therapy in the near-infrared region by using gold nanorods.J Am Chem Soc2006;128: 2115–2120..
Jaque D, Maestro LM, Rosal B, Haro-Gonzalez P, Benayas Aet al. Nanoparticles for photothermal therapies.Nanoscale2014;6: 9494–9530..
Roche PJR, Beitel LK, Khan R, Lumbroso R, Najih Met al. Demonstration of a plasmonic thermocycler for the amplification of human androgen receptor DNA.Analyst2012;137: 4475–4481..
Johnson PB, Christy RW. Optical constants of noble metals.Phys Rev B1972;6: 4370–4379..
Carey VP, Chen G, Grigoropoulos C, Kaviany M, Majumdar A. A review of heat transfer physics.Nanoscale Microscale Thermophys Eng2008;12: 1–60..
Inouye H, Tanaka K. Ultrafast dynamics of nonequilibrium electrons in a gold nanoparticle system.Phys Rev B1998;57: 11334–11340..
Clavero C. Plasmon-induced hot-electron generation at nanoparticle/metal-oxide interfaces for photovoltaic and photocatalytic devices.Nat Photonics2014;8: 95–103..
Bergman TL, Lavine AS, Incropera FP, DeWitt DP.Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer. 7th ed. New York: John Wiley&Sons; 2011.