Nanotechnology firm NanoInk said this week that it has begun offering dried blood spot analysis for protein biomarker research on a contract services basis.
The company will use its NanoArray Assay System for the detection, identification, and quantification of clinically relevant protein biomarkers from samples collected on dried blood spots via finger-stick blood draws.
DBS samples are minimally invasive, low-cost, and require little equipment to obtain, but because they contain only a small amount of sample, they are often unsuitable for analysis of low-abundance proteins via conventional immunoassays like ELISAs.
According to NanoInk, the NanoArray Assay System is capable of working with sample volumes as low as 2 µL and can detect proteins in the sub-picogram per mL range, making it well-suited to DBS analysis.
In a recently completed study, the platform demonstrated the ability to detect four clinically relevant cytokines – IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, and TNF-α – at the single picogram per mL level in sample volumes between 4 and 5 µL, the company said.
The NanoArray Assay System is based on the company's dip pen nanolithography-fabrication technique, which uses sharp probes to spot biomolecules onto a surface.