Substantial improvement of microvolume UV absorption spectrometry in sensitivity, robustness and ease of operation was achieved for routine biological applications. A unique microtubing-based absorption cell (208 μm internal diameter) featuring enhanced light transmission with a liquid core waveguide technique provided dramatically enhanced absorption sensitivity, proportional to the extended path length (50 mm, from the typical 1 mm), while robust measurement performance was attained by implementation of preventive measures against bubble trapping along the light path. For pBR322 plasmid DNA, absorbance at 260 nm was reliably measurable down to 0.1 ng/μl with repeatability typically 2-3% RSD. The detection limit was 0.03 ng/μl dsDNA, far lower than the current state-of-the-art ∼1 ng/μl. Sample consumption for each measurement was 2.4 μl. Automated operation implemented for the first time in microvolume spectrophotometry facilitated the ease in handling with small-volume biological samples.

中文翻译：

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用于小体积生物样品常规分析的高灵敏度微体积紫外吸收光谱法。

对于常规生物应用，微体积紫外吸收光谱法在灵敏度、稳健性和操作简便性方面取得了实质性改进。独特的基于微管的吸收池（内径 208 μm）采用液芯波导技术增强光传输，显着增强吸收灵敏度，与扩展路径长度（50 mm，典型值为 1 mm）成正比，同时具有稳健的测量性能通过实施防止气泡沿光路捕获的预防措施来实现。对于pBR322质粒 DNA，在 260 nm 处的吸光度可以可靠地测量到低至 0.1 ng/μl，重复性通常为 2-3% RSD。检测限为 0.03 ng/μl dsDNA，远低于目前最先进的 ∼1 ng/μl。每次测量的样品消耗量为 2.4 μl。首次在微量分光光度法中实施的自动化操作促进了小体积生物样品的处理。