Multiplex
detection techniques are emerging within the fields of
life science research and medical diagnostics where it is mandatory
to analyze a great number of molecules. The detection techniques need
to be highly efficient but often involve complicated and expensive
fabrication procedures. Here, we present the immobilization and geometric
separation of fluorescence-labeled microbeads for a multiplex detection
in k levels. A compound of differently sized target
molecules (DNA, proteins) is channeled into the respective detection
levels by making use of a hydrogel as a size selective filter. The
immobilized microbeads (10–20 μm) are considerably larger
than the pores of the hydrogel network and therefore stay fixed at
the well bottom and in higher elevations, respectively. Small biomolecules
can diffuse through the pores of the network, whereas medium-sized
biomolecules pass slower and large molecules will be excluded. Besides
filtering, this method discriminates the used microbeads into k levels and thereby introduces a geometric multiplexity.
Additionally, the exclusion of large entities enables the simultaneous
detection of two target molecules, which exhibit the same affinity
interaction. The hydrogel is formed through the combination of two
macromonomers. One component is a homobifunctional polyethylene glycol
linker, carrying a strained alkyne (PEG-BCN) and the second component
is the azide-functionalized dendritic polyglycerol (dPG-N3). They react via the bioorthogonal strain-promoted azide alkyne
cycloaddition (SPAAC). The hydrogel creates a solution-like environment
for the diffusion of the investigated biomolecules all the while providing
a stable, bioinert, and surface bound network.