Methodology to Detect Biological Particles Using a Biosensing Surface Integrated in Resistive Pulse Sensing

Resistive pulse sensing (RPS) is an analytical method that can be used to individually count particles from a small sample. RPS simply monitors the physical characteristics of particles, such as size, shape, and charge density, and the integration of RPS with biosensing is an attractive theme to detect biological particles such as virus and bacteria. In this report, a methodology of biosensing on RPS was investigated. Polydopamine (PD), an adhesive component of mussels, was used as the base material to create a sensing surface. PD adheres to most materials, such as noble metals, metal oxides, semiconductors, and polymers; as a result, PD is a versatile intermediate layer for the fabrication of a biosensing surface. As an example of a biological particle, human influenza A virus (H1N1 subtype) was used to monitor translocation of particles through the pore membrane. When virus-specific ligands (6′-sialyllactose) were immobilized on the pore surface, the translocation time of the virus particles was considerably extended. The detailed translocation data suggest that the viral particles were trapped on the sensing surface by specific interactions. In addition, virus translocation processes on different pore surfaces were distinguished using machine learning. The result shows that the simple and versatile PD-based biosensor surface design was effective. This advanced RPS measurement system could be a promising analytical technique.