# Screening antibodies for paper-based zika and dengue assays using microfluidic resistive pulse sensing

> **NIH NIH R03** · UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON · 2020 · $76,250

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT
Lateral flow assays are low-cost, paper based assays that can provide readouts within minutes.
They have shown great promise as point of care rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for many
hemorrhagic viral fevers such as dengue and zika because they are operable by non-experts,
robust, and portable. A fluid is added to a test and wicks through, and if an antigen is present, a
color appears at the test line due to the accumulation of gold nanoparticle (NP) antibody
conjugates. While LFAs have proven utility in the field, they rely on antibody pairs specific for
the biomarker of interest, so for every new disease a pair of antibodies must be determined.
Arriving at a functional configuration of antibodies and NPs is labor intensive and expensive. In
particular, each of the antibodies must be run in pairs and tested against each antigen in a
paper strip format, as ELISA cannot predict sandwich immunoassay behavior. This presents
major bottleneck in both time and required antibody samples, so any means to improve this
process would significantly reduce the time and cost to produce RDTs for emerging outbreaks.
Here, we will investigate the use of microfluidic resistive pulse sensing (MRPS) to help
streamline the antibody screening method for a multiplexed dengue and zika test. MRPS is a
highly sensitive technique that measures the size of a particle by its transport properties through
a pore which has a voltage applied across it. MRPS requires very small sample volume and has
the sensitivity to be able to measure when antigens bind to a NP-antibody complex. Thus, it has
the potential to reduce sample requirements for screening and designing antibody pairs in an
LFA. This could potentially reduce the amount of antibodies in immunoassay development,
ultimately reducing both development costs and time. Benefits of the work will make
immunoprobe design more efficient and would reduce the antibody amounts in screening for
LFAs tests faster and at lower cost. Expediting immunoprobe optimization would also streamline
assay development and improve rapid response to infectious disease outbreaks.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9950205
- **Project number:** 1R03AI151547-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON
- **Principal Investigator:** KIMBERLY HAMAD-SCHIFFERLI
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $76,250
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-02-25 → 2022-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9950205

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9950205, Screening antibodies for paper-based zika and dengue assays using microfluidic resistive pulse sensing (1R03AI151547-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9950205. Licensed CC0.

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