Continuous and High-Throughput Electromechanical Lysis of Bacterial Pathogens Using Ion Concentration Polarization

Anal Chem. 2018 Jan 2;90(1):872-880. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.7b03746. Epub 2017 Dec 15.

Abstract

Electrical lysis of mammalian cells has been a preferred method in microfluidic platforms because of its simple implementation and rapid recovery of lysates without additional reagents. However, bacterial lysis typically requires at least a 10-fold higher electric field (∼10 kV/cm), resulting in various technical difficulties. Here, we present a novel, low-field-enabled electromechanical lysis mechanism of bacterial cells using electroconvective vortices near ion selective materials. The vortex-assisted lysis only requires a field strength of ∼100 V/cm, yet it efficiently recovers proteins and nucleic acids from a variety of pathogenic bacteria and operates in a continuous and ultrahigh-throughput (>1 mL/min) manner. Therefore, we believe that the electromechanical lysis will not only facilitate microfluidic bacterial sensing and analysis but also various high-volume applications such as the energy-efficient recovery of valuable metabolites in biorefinery pharmaceutical industries and the disinfection of large-volume fluid for the water and food industries.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Bacteriolysis*
  • Electrochemical Techniques / instrumentation
  • Electrochemical Techniques / methods*
  • Escherichia coli K12 / chemistry
  • Mechanical Phenomena
  • Membranes, Artificial
  • Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / instrumentation
  • Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / methods*
  • Mycobacterium smegmatis / chemistry

Substances

  • Membranes, Artificial