Modular Aptamer Switches for the Continuous Optical Detection of Small-Molecule Analytes in Complex Media.

Aptamers are a promising class of affinity reagents because signal transduction mechanisms can be built into the reagent, so that they can directly produce a physically measurable output signal upon target binding. However, endowing the signal transduction functionality into an aptamer remains a trial-and-error process that can compromise its affinity or specificity and typically requires knowledge of the ligand binding domain or its structure. In this work, a design architecture that can convert an existing aptamer into a "reversible aptamer switch" whose kinetic and thermodynamic properties can be tuned without a priori knowledge of the ligand binding domain or its structure is described.

An antibody-based molecular switch for continuous small-molecule biosensing.

We present a generalizable approach for designing biosensors that can continuously detect small-molecule biomarkers in real time and without sample preparation. This is achieved by converting existing antibodies into target-responsive "antibody-switches" that enable continuous optical biosensing. To engineer these switches, antibodies are linked to a molecular competitor through a DNA scaffold, such that competitive target binding induces scaffold switching and fluorescent signaling of changing target concentrations.

Photonic crystal nanobeam biosensors based on porous silicon.

Photonic crystal (PhC) nanobeams (NB) patterned on porous silicon (PSi) waveguide substrates are demonstrated for the specific, label-free detection of oligonucleotides. These photonic structures combine the large active sensing area intrinsic to PSi sensors with the high-quality (Q) factor and low-mode volume characteristic of compact resonant silicon-on-insulator (SOI) PhC NB devices. The PSi PhC NB can achieve a Q-factor near 9,000 and has an approximately 40-fold increased active sensing area for molecular attachment, compared to traditional SOI PhC NB sensors.

Free-space-coupled superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors for infrared optical communications.

This paper describes the construction of a cryostat and an optical system with a free-space coupling efficiency of 56.5% ± 3.4% to a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) for infrared quantum communication and spectrum analysis.