Although microRNA (miRNA) expression levels provide important information regarding disease states owing to their unique dysregulation patterns in tissues, translation of miRNA diagnostics into point-of-care (POC) settings has been limited by practical challenges. Here, we developed a hydrogel-based microfluidic platform for colorimetric profiling of miRNAs, without the use of complex external equipment for fluidics and imaging. For sensitive and reliable measurement without the risk of sequence bias, we employed a gold deposition-based signal amplification scheme and dark-field imaging, and seamlessly integrated a previously developed miRNA assay scheme into this platform. The assay demonstrated a limit of detection of 260 fM, along with multiplexing of small panels of miRNAs in healthy and cancer samples. We anticipate this versatile platform to facilitate a broad range of POC profiling of miRNAs in cancer-associated dysregulation with high-confidence by exploiting the unique features of hydrogel substrate in an on-chip format and colorimetric analysis.

中文翻译：

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基于水凝胶的比色测定，用于微流控设备中的多重MicroRNA检测。

尽管microRNA（miRNA）的表达水平由于其在组织中的独特失调模式而提供了有关疾病状态的重要信息，但将miRNA诊断程序转换为即时诊断（POC）设置受到实际挑战的限制。在这里，我们开发了基于水凝胶的微流体平台，用于miRNA的比色分析，而无需使用复杂的外部设备进行流体学和成像。为了进行灵敏可靠的测量而没有序列偏倚的风险，我们采用了基于金沉积的信号放大方案和暗场成像，并将先前开发的miRNA分析方案无缝集成到该平台中。该测定法证明检测极限为260 fM，并且可以在健康和癌症样品中对小分子miRNA进行多重检测。