Our long term goal is to develop an in-vitro intra and/or extracellular protein analysis system by taking advantage of highly sensitive silicon nanowire sensor. Thus far, a variety of methods have been developed for the detection of proteins and biomolecules from cells: flight-of-time mass spectroscopy, electrophoresis, immunofluorescence, etc. However, these existing methods are not yet suitable for single-cell analysis, require high analyte concentration and large cell population, and do not provide high spatial resolution. Our approach is to use a silicon nanowire-based sensor for the extracellular / intracellular protein detection. This can provide a very simple, purely electrical, and highly sensitive detection of biomolecules.
Project end date: 07/30/08