Nanofluidic Aptamer Nanoarray Enables Precision Protein Measurement.

Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University have developed a nanofluidic device called Nanofluidic Aptamer Nanoarray (NANa) that can capture and detect single proteins stochastically and digitally at their naturally high concentrations. NANa could potentially lay the foundation for the future of personalized disease prevention and treatment by accurately measuring biomolecules within single cells. The device uses synthetic antibodies known as aptamers, which bind to specific molecules, and is designed for the digital assay of individual molecules in a sample with an ultrasmall volume equivalent to that of a single cell.