A portable elliptical dichroism spectrometer targeting secondary structural features of tumorous protein for pancreatic cancer detection

Aaron Bauer; Santhalingam Elamurugan; Sara A Tolba; Fatima; Ejjigu Nega; Ivan T Lima Jr; Wenjie Xia; Dali Sun

doi:10.1016/j.bios.2022.114934

A portable elliptical dichroism spectrometer targeting secondary structural features of tumorous protein for pancreatic cancer detection

Biosens Bioelectron. 2023 Feb 15:222:114934. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2022.114934. Epub 2022 Nov 24.

Authors

Aaron Bauer¹, Santhalingam Elamurugan¹, Sara A Tolba², Fatima³, Ejjigu Nega¹, Ivan T Lima Jr⁴, Wenjie Xia⁵, Dali Sun⁶

Affiliations

¹ Biomedical Engineering Program, North Dakota State University, 1401 Centennial Blvd, Engineering Administration, Room 203, Fargo, ND, 58102, USA.
² Materials and Nanotechnology Program, North Dakota State University, 1410 North 14th Avenue, CIE 201, Fargo, ND, 58102, USA.
³ Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Physics, Roanoke College, Salem, VA, 24153, USA; Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, North Dakota State University, 1410 North 14th Avenue, CIE 201, Fargo, ND, 58102, USA.
⁴ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Dakota State University, 1411 Centennial Blvd., 101S, Fargo, ND, 58102, USA.
⁵ Biomedical Engineering Program, North Dakota State University, 1401 Centennial Blvd, Engineering Administration, Room 203, Fargo, ND, 58102, USA; Materials and Nanotechnology Program, North Dakota State University, 1410 North 14th Avenue, CIE 201, Fargo, ND, 58102, USA; Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, North Dakota State University, 1410 North 14th Avenue, CIE 201, Fargo, ND, 58102, USA.
⁶ Biomedical Engineering Program, North Dakota State University, 1401 Centennial Blvd, Engineering Administration, Room 203, Fargo, ND, 58102, USA; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Dakota State University, 1411 Centennial Blvd., 101S, Fargo, ND, 58102, USA. Electronic address: dali.sun@ndsu.edu.

Abstract

Stereochemical analysis is essential for understanding the complex function of biomolecules. Various direct and indirect approaches can be used to explore the allosteric configuration. However, the size, cost, and delicate nature of these systems limit their biomedical usage. Here, we constructed elliptical dichroism (ED) spectrometer for biomedical applications, whose performance is validated by experiment and theoretical simulation (Jones/Mueller calculus and time-dependent density-functional theory). Instead of complicated control of circular polarization, ED spectrometer adopted the absorbance of left- and right-oriented elliptically polarized light. With a simplified design, we demonstrated the potential of ED spectrometry as an alternative for secondary structural analysis of biomolecules, their conformation and chirality. It not only provides a portable, low-cost alternative to the sophisticated instruments currently used for structural analysis of biomolecules but also provides superior translational features: low sample consumption(200 μl), easy operation, and multiple working modes, for noninvasive cancer detection.

Keywords: Cancer detection; Chiroptical; Circular dichroism; Density-functional theory; Elliptical dichroism; Spectrometer; Stereochemical analysis.

MeSH terms

Biosensing Techniques*
Circular Dichroism
Humans
Molecular Conformation
Pancreatic Neoplasms* / diagnosis
Refractometry

Abstract

MeSH terms

Grants and funding