The present invention relates to a method for detecting molecular interactions in a solution. In particular, the present invention relates to a method for detecting interactions between two substances that are likely to interact with one another. The present invention can be used in particular in the field of scientific research and in the field of medical analysis.

In various embodiments methods are provided for identifying and/or quantifying one or more antigens of interest (biomarkers) on the surface of cell- or tissue-specific exosomes. In an illustrative embodiments the methods comprise: i) incubating a population of exosomes with one or more tissue-specific antibodies that bind an antigen specific to a tissue or cell type of interest that produces exosomes, where the tissue specific antibodies are attached to acceptor bead or magnetic beads so the antibodies bind exosomes displaying the antigen; ii) obtaining a purified population of exosomes bound by the tissue specific antibodies with and/or without photocleavable linker based technology; iii) incubating a test subset of the isolated tissue-specific exosomes with acceptor beads attached to test antibodies that bind an antigen of interest thereby binding exosomes that display the antigen of interest and a control subset with negative control acceptor beads; v) incubating the test subset of isolated exosomes and the control subset of exosomes with a donor-bearing antibody that binds an exosome specific antigen; and vi) detecting a signal produced upon illumination of the control subset and/or the test; and vii) detecting the antigen(s) of interest.

A discontinuous wall magnet having an opening or channel is provided. A bead separation magnet having a discontinuous or segmented wall is also provided. The segmented wall causes bead formation to form in a segmented or gapped ring to allow for easier manual pipetting. Also provided are systems and kits having the inventive magnets. Methods of purifying a macromolecule using the inventive magnets are also provided.

A system and method for isolating target substrates includes a microfluidic chip, comprising a plurality of processing units, each processing unit comprising: an inlet port, a plurality of first chambers connected to the inlet port by a fluid channel, the fluid channel comprising a plurality of valves, a plurality of second chambers, each of the second chambers connected to a respective first chamber by a fluid channel, each fluid channel including a controllable blocking valve, and a plurality of respective outlet ports, each outlet port in fluid communication with a respective one of said second chambers and each outlet port including a blocking valve. A magnet is adjacent the microfluidic chip and is movable relative to the microfluidic chip. A valve control is capable of actuating certain ones of the controllable blocking valves in response to a control signal.

The present invention relates to systems and methods that utilize a combination of immunoassay and magnetic immunoassay techniques to detect an analyte within an extended range of specified concentrations. In particular, a device includes a housing, a heterogeneous surface capture immunosensor within the housing and configured to generate a first signal indicative of the concentration of the analyte in an upper concentration range, and a homogeneous magnetic bead capture immunosensor within the housing and configured to generate a second signal indicative of the concentration of the analyte in a lower concentration range.

A method of extracting biomolecules from live cells comprising: introducing a plurality of magnetized carbon nanotubes (MCNTs) into a live cell, wherein the MCNTs penetrate the cell membrane under a magnetic force; spearing the MCNTs through the cell under the magnetic force, wherein a biomolecule attaches to at least a portion of the MCNTs to form a biomolecule loaded MCNT; removing at least a portion of the biomolecule loaded MCNTs from the cell under the magnetic force; and collecting at least a portion of the biomolecule loaded MCNTs.

Disclosed herein are methods for assaying the concentration of frataxin in biofluids, and kits, reagents, and uses thereof.

The invention relates to detecting cell biomarker signatures and integrated cell biomarker-morphological profiles by detecting resonance-light scattering of functionalized nanoparticles.

This invention features systems and methods for the detection of analytes, and their use in the treatment and diagnosis of disease.

There is a need in the point-of-care diagnostic community for an efficient and portable method for testing blood and other biological fluids that can be easily translated across multiple applications. An aspect of the invention described involves monitoring the optical properties of molecularly-mediated nanoparticle assemblies though an optically transparent and magnetically active microfluidic chip, which has recently emerged as an attractive method for biomarker detection as it is an efficient tool for monitoring the binding events that take place in a sensing assay. In one embodiment, this device is directed towards two-nanoparticle assays that rely on the assembly or disassembly of plasmonic and magnetic nanoparticles in response to a certain analyte. A further embodiment is directed to a spiral microfluidic using inertial forces to filter fluid components by size, connected to a magnetically active channel comprised of a nickel micropad array, optically transparent microchannel, and permanent magnets.