Molecularly Imprinted Polymers as Biomimetic Test Zones in Paper-Based Nucleic Acid Assays-Comparing Vertical and Lateral Flow Formats
Marfà, Jennifer (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Química)
Valle, Anaixis del (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Química)
Taboada Sotomayor, Maria Del Pilar (São Paulo State University)
Pividori, María Isabel (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina "Vicent Villar Palasí")

Date:	2026
Abstract:	The development of rapid and sensitive point-of-care nucleic acid tests benefits from robust synthetic recognition elements. Here, a biotin-specific molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was synthesized using an optimized protocol and integrated as a biomimetic test zone into two paper-based formats: nucleic acid vertical flow (NAVF) and nucleic acid lateral flow (NALF). Both platforms were evaluated for the detection of double-tagged PCR amplicons from Escherichia coli. NAVF enabled a 3 min visual readout with an LOD of 1. 00 × 10-2 ng mL-1. NALF provided a total assay time of <15 min and achieved a visual LOD of 3. 17 × 10-2 ng mL-1. Overall, the results demonstrate the versatility of biotin-MIPs as stable synthetic receptors for rapid, low-cost paper-based nucleic acid assays, with NAVF prioritizing speed and design flexibility and NALF prioritizing higher analytical sensitivity.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2019-106625RB-I00 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2022-136453OB-I00 Agencia Estatal de Investigación BES-2017-082694 Generalitat de Catalunya 2017/SGR-220 Generalitat de Catalunya 2021/SGR-00124 Generalitat de Catalunya 2021/SGR-00092 Generalitat de Catalunya 2021/SGR-1267
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Biomimetics ; Biosensing Techniques ; Escherichia coli/genetics ; Molecular Imprinting ; Molecularly Imprinted Polymers/chemistry ; Nucleic Acids ; Paper ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymers/chemistry
Published in:	Biosensors, Vol. 16, Num. 3 (March 2026) , art. 175, ISSN 2079-6374

DOI: 10.3390/bios16030175
PMID: 41892068

17 p, 4.1 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina (IBB)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles