A vertical flow paper-microarray assay with isothermal DNA amplification for detection of Neisseria meningitidis

Paper-based biosensors offer a promising technology to be used at the point of care, enabled by good performance, convenience and low-cost. In this article, we describe a colorimetric vertical-flow DNA microarray (DNA-VFM) that takes advantage of the screening capability of DNA microarrays in a paper format together with isothermal amplification by means of Recombinase Polymerase Amplification (RPA). Different assay parameters such as hybridization buffer, flow rate, printing buffer and capture probe concentration were optimized. A limit of detection (LOD) of 4.4 nM was achieved as determined by tabletop scanning. The DNA-VFM was applied as a proof of concept for detection of Neisseria meningitidis, a primary cause of bacterial meningitis. The LOD was determined to be between 38 and 2.1 × 106 copies/VFMassay, depending on the choice of DNA capture probes. The presented approach provides multiplex capabilities of DNA microarrays in a paper-based format for future point-of-care applications. [Display omitted] •A paper-based vertical-flow microarray for bacterial DNA detection is presented.•A limit of detection of 4.4 nM of synthetic DNA was achieved.•The array-based approach was applied for Neisseria meningitidis detection.•The best probe allowed detection of 38 copies/vertical-flow assay.