The adaption of an encoded microparticle array for multiplexing nucleic acid hybridisation assays

Abstract

Our ever increasing knowledge of genetics is radically changing disciplines in
science and medicine. Significantly, the study of gene expression and protein
synthesis within both healthy and abnormal cells has advanced understanding of the
mechanism of disease at the molecular level. The future treatment of certain diseases
may benefit from new classes of nucleic acid based drugs which are currently
undergoing development and trialling. Concurrently, assays are being formulated to
predict, diagnose and monitor medical conditions. This more detailed patient
analysis brings the option of moving away from traditional, textbook treatments and
tailoring therapies to the individual, the field of personalised medicine.

Current polynucleotide analysis platforms allow testing for genomic mutations and
quantification of gene expression on a massively multiplexed scale with some arrays
able to identify more than a million unique target sequences in a single assay.
However much development is required to take this analysis technology from
laboratory based applications to the bedside. Reductions in assay costs and analysis
time are particular concerns. The 4G research group, based at the University of
Southampton has developed novel encoded microparticle technology, allowing
individual particles to be identified in a mixture. The work herein documents the
adaption of this technology for the multiplexed analysis of DNA samples in the form
of a suspension/hybridisation assay, a design which may offer advantages over
current analysis technologies including reduced assay time and increased array
flexibility.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Peter L. Roach: orcid.org/0000-0001-9880-2877

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