Disclosure of Invention
The application provides a liquid drop type PCR chip and a liquid drop type PCR detection system, which aim to solve the technical problem that micro-liquid drop chips are easy to form bubbles in the PCR reaction process.
In order to solve the technical problem, the application adopts a technical scheme that: a droplet-type PCR chip comprising at least one cell, the cell comprising: the oil phase liquid storage tank is used for storing oil phase; the PCR reagent liquid storage tank is used for storing PCR reagents, and the PCR reagent liquid storage tank and the oil phase liquid storage tank are converged through a fluid flow path and are converged to a droplet generation channel; one end of the liquid drop laying cavity is communicated with the liquid drop generating channel to receive the generated liquid drops, and the liquid drop laying cavity is used for providing a PCR amplification reaction site for the liquid drops; the outlet liquid storage tank is connected to the other end of the liquid drop tiling cavity and used for discharging air squeezed by the liquid drops in the liquid drop tiling cavity; wherein, the oil phase liquid storage tank, the PCR reagent liquid storage tank and the outlet liquid storage tank are also used for receiving mineral oil so as to seal the liquid drop tiling cavity.
According to an embodiment of the application, the liquid drop tiling chamber includes at least two first chamber sections and at least one second chamber section, wherein first chamber section sets up along first predetermined direction array, the second chamber section is with adjacent two first chamber section end to end connects in order, so that liquid drop tiling chamber meanders and sets up.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the fluid channel includes a first channel communicating with the oil phase reservoir and a second channel communicating with the PCR reagent reservoir, the first channel is provided with two channels, the two channels join at the same position, and the two channels are located on both sides of the second channel.
According to an embodiment of the present application, the droplet-type PCR chip is provided with a tin foil or an aluminum foil for sealing the oil phase reservoir, the PCR reagent reservoir, and the open end of the outlet reservoir.
According to an embodiment of the present application, the droplet-type PCR chip includes an upper structure and a lower structure, wherein the upper structure includes the oil phase reservoir, the PCR reagent reservoir and the outlet reservoir, and the lower structure includes the fluid flow path and the droplet generation channel.
According to an embodiment of the present application, the droplet-type PCR chip is made of a material that is light-transmissive and can withstand the temperature of PCR reaction.
According to an embodiment of the present application, the droplet-type PCR chip is made of cyclic olefin polymer or cyclic olefin copolymer material.
According to an embodiment of the present application, the droplet-type PCR chip is injection-molded from a cyclic olefin polymer or a cyclic olefin copolymer.
In order to solve the above technical problem, the present application adopts another technical solution: a droplet PCR detection system, comprising: a thermal cycling heating device for controlling the liquid drop type PCR chip to carry out PCR amplification reaction; and the oil injection device is used for dropwise adding mineral oil into the oil phase liquid storage tank, the PCR reagent liquid storage tank and the outlet liquid storage tank of the droplet type PCR chip so as to seal the droplet tiling cavity.
According to an embodiment of the present application, the droplet-based PCR detection system includes: and the heat sealing device is used for carrying out tin foil or aluminum foil heat sealing on the open end parts of the oil phase liquid storage tank, the PCR reagent liquid storage tank and the outlet liquid storage tank.
According to an embodiment of the present application, the droplet-based PCR detection system includes: and the fluorescence imaging device is used for carrying out fluorescence detection on the liquid drops after the PCR amplification reaction is finished.
The beneficial effect of this application is: different from the prior art, the outlet liquid storage tank is arranged at the tail end of the liquid drop tiling cavity, and before PCR amplification reaction is carried out, the oil phase liquid storage tank, the PCR reagent liquid storage tank and the outlet liquid storage tank are all used for bearing mineral oil so as to seal the liquid drop tiling cavity and prevent bubbles generated by heat in the oil phase from leaking out and extruding liquid drops out of the liquid drop tiling cavity; in addition, after sealing, the vapor pressure generated by heat in the oil phase is kept in the liquid drop type PCR chip, so that the vapor pressure in the liquid drop tiling cavity is further improved, and bubbles generated in the liquid drop type PCR chip can be reduced or avoided.
Detailed Description
The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.
Referring to fig. 1 to 2, fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an overall structure of an embodiment of a droplet PCR chip of the present application; FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of a droplet PCR chip of the present application.
An embodiment of the present application provides a droplet-type PCR chip 10, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, including at least oneunit 100, where eachunit 100 includes an oil-phase reservoir 110, aPCR reagent reservoir 120, adroplet tiling cavity 130, and anoutlet reservoir 140. The oil-phase reservoir 110 is for storing an oil phase, thePCR reagent reservoir 120 is for storing PCR reagents, and thePCR reagent reservoir 120 and the oil-phase reservoir 110 are merged through thefluid flow path 150 and flow to thedroplet generation channel 160. One end of the droplet-tiling cavity 130 communicates with the droplet-generatingchannel 160 to receive droplets formed by the droplet-generatingchannel 160, and the droplet-tiling cavity 130 is used to provide a place for a PCR amplification reaction for the droplets. Anoutlet reservoir 140 is connected to the other end of thedroplet tiling chamber 130 to exhaust air that is squeezed by the droplets within thedroplet tiling chamber 130.
Through the above structure, the oil phase in theoil phase reservoir 110 and the PCR reagent in thePCR reagent reservoir 120 can join together through thefluid flow path 150 and then flow into thedroplet generation channel 160, the oil phase and the PCR reagent are mixed and then pass through thedroplet generation channel 160 to generate droplets with the oil phase wrapping the water phase, and the droplets enter thedroplet tiling cavity 130 to perform PCR amplification reaction. Because the liquid drops are easy to generate bubbles due to the heating action in the planar PCR process, and the bubbles are generated because the oil phase is heated and gasified to form a large amount of bubbles, the liquid drops are extruded out of the liquiddrop tiling cavity 130, and the liquid drops are lost. In the application, the outletliquid storage tank 140 is arranged at the tail end of the liquiddrop tiling cavity 130, and before PCR amplification reaction, the oil phaseliquid storage tank 110, the PCR reagentliquid storage tank 120 and the outletliquid storage tank 140 are all used for receiving mineral oil so as to seal the liquiddrop tiling cavity 130 and prevent liquid drops from being extruded out of the liquiddrop tiling cavity 130 due to the leakage of bubbles generated by heat in the oil phase; in addition, since the vapor pressure generated by heat in the oil phase is retained inside the droplet-type PCR chip 10 after sealing, the vapor pressure inside thedroplet tiling cavity 130 is further increased, so that the generation of bubbles inside the droplet-type PCR chip 10 can be reduced or avoided.
In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the droplet-type PCR chip 10 is provided with a tin foil or an aluminum foil for sealing the open ends of the oil-phase reservoir 110, thePCR reagent reservoir 120, and theoutlet reservoir 140. After the oil phaseliquid storage tank 110, the PCR reagentliquid storage tank 120 and the outletliquid storage tank 140 are all connected with mineral oil, the open ends of the oil phaseliquid storage tank 110, the PCR reagentliquid storage tank 120 and the outletliquid storage tank 140 can be further sealed by tinfoil or aluminum foil, so that the absolute sealing state of the whole internal environment of the droplettype PCR chip 10 in the PCR process can be fully ensured, and the problems of unstable liquid droplets, aerosol and the like caused by steam pressure leakage to the outside are prevented. The tin foil or the aluminum foil can be fixed at the open end of each liquid storage tank in a heating and sealing mode.
In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, threeunits 100 are arranged on eachdroplet PCR chip 10, and in other embodiments, oneunit 100, twounits 100, fourunits 100, ormore units 100 may be arranged, which is not limited herein.
In an embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, thefluid flow path 150 includes afirst flow path 151 communicated with theoil phase reservoir 110 and asecond flow path 152 communicated with thePCR reagent reservoir 120, the twofirst flow paths 151 and thesecond flow path 152 are merged at the same position, and the twofirst flow paths 151 are respectively disposed at two sides of thesecond flow path 152, so that the oil phase flows from the twofirst flow paths 151 to two sides of thesecond flow path 152 where the PCR reagent is disposed and merges to thedroplet generation channel 160, and droplets of the oil phase wrapping the water phase can be smoothly formed by a two-phase flow-sandwiching manner, so that the generation density of the droplets is consistent with the tightness of the tiling of the droplets, and the generation of the droplets and the tiling of the single-layer droplets can be performed simultaneously.
As shown in fig. 1, thefluid flow path 150 may further include athird flow path 153 for communicating thedroplet tiling chamber 130 and theoutlet reservoir 140, and in the case where there is usually no large internal pressure, thethird flow path 153 is used only as an exhaust gas, and the droplets in thedroplet tiling chamber 130 usually do not flow out of thethird flow path 153.
In an embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the droplet-tiling cavity 130 includes at least onefirst cavity segment 131 and at least onesecond cavity segment 132, wherein thefirst cavity segments 131 are arranged in an array along a first predetermined direction, and thesecond cavity segment 132 connects two adjacentfirst cavity segments 131 end to end in sequence, so that the droplet-tiling cavity 130 is arranged in a serpentine manner, thereby effectively reducing the volume of the droplet-tiling cavity 130 while ensuring the length thereof. The liquid drops are flatly laid in a single layer in the liquid drop flatly layingcavity 130, and the liquid drops are arranged closely. Specifically, in the present embodiment, thedroplet tiling chamber 130 includes fivefirst chamber segments 131 and foursecond chamber segments 132.
In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the droplet-type PCR chip 10 includes an upper structure including anoil phase reservoir 110, aPCR reagent reservoir 120, and anoutlet reservoir 140, and a lower structure including afluid flow path 150 and adroplet generation channel 160. Wherein, the PCR reagentliquid storage tank 120 and the outletliquid storage tank 140 are both cylindrical and protrude out of the surface of the droplet-type PCR chip 10; during production, thefluid flow path 150 and thedroplet generation channel 160 may be formed by engraving.
In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, thedroplet PCR chip 10 is made of a material that has optical transparency and can withstand the temperature of PCR reaction. By way of example, the material may be a Cyclic Olefin Polymer (COP) plastic or a Cyclic Olefin Copolymer (COC) material, and in other embodiments, other materials meeting the above requirements may also be used, and are not limited herein. When the droplet-type PCR chip 10 of the present application is made of Cyclic Olefin Polymer (COP) or Cyclic Olefin Copolymer (COC) material, the sealing of the droplet-type PCR chip 10 can be achieved by using thermocompression bonding, so that the entire PCR process is in a completely closed environment, thereby effectively avoiding the problem of DNA aerosol generated during the PCR process.
Further, as shown in fig. 1, the droplet-type PCR chip 10 of the present application is injection-molded from a Cyclic Olefin Polymer (COP) or Cyclic Olefin Copolymer (COC) material. Since the droplet-type PCR chip 10 according to the present application is injection-molded and is generally disposable in application, the droplet-type PCR chip 10 according to the present application is very advantageous in cost compared to a conventional chip using PDMS material. In addition, since the droplet-type PCR chip 10 is made of high-temperature-resistant COP or COC, the generated droplets do not need to be taken out, and PCR thermal cycle reaction (temperature increase and decrease) can be directly performed through thedroplet tiling cavity 130.
Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a partial structural schematic diagram of an embodiment of a droplet PCR detection system according to the present application.
In another embodiment, a droplet-typePCR detection system 200 is provided, as shown in fig. 3, including a thermal cycling device (not shown) for controlling the droplet-type PCR chip 10 according to any of the above embodiments to perform a PCR amplification reaction; the droplet-typePCR detection system 200 further includes anoil injection device 230 for dropping mineral oil into theoil phase reservoir 110, thePCR reagent reservoir 120, and theoutlet reservoir 140 of the droplet-type PCR chip 10 to seal thedroplet tiling cavity 130, so as to prevent the bubbles generated by heat in the oil phase from leaking out and to expel the droplets out of thedroplet tiling cavity 130, and meanwhile, because the vapor pressure generated by heat in the oil phase is retained inside the droplet-type PCR chip 10 after sealing, the vapor pressure inside thedroplet tiling cavity 130 is further increased, thereby reducing or preventing the bubbles from being generated inside the droplet-type PCR chip 10. Because the droplet-typePCR detection system 200 of the present application is provided with theoil injection device 230, mineral oil can be automatically dripped into the oil phaseliquid storage tank 110, the PCR reagentliquid storage tank 120 and the outletliquid storage tank 140 of the droplet-type PCR chip 10, so that the work efficiency is improved, and the equipment is more intelligent.
Further, as shown in fig. 3, the droplet-typePCR detection system 200 further includes aheat sealing device 210, wherein theheat sealing device 210 is configured to perform heat sealing on tin foil or aluminum foil at the open ends of the oil-phase liquid reservoir 110, the PCRreagent liquid reservoir 120, and the outletliquid reservoir 140, and after theoil injection device 230 completes oil injection, theheat sealing device 210 heat seals the tin foil or aluminum foil to the open ends of the respective liquid reservoirs, so as to fully ensure an absolute sealing state of the whole internal environment of the droplet-type PCR chip 10 during the PCR process.
Further, as shown in fig. 3, the droplet-typePCR detection system 200 further includes afluorescence imaging device 220, and thefluorescence imaging device 220 is configured to perform fluorescence detection on the droplet after the PCR amplification reaction is completed, so as to directly perform fluorescence collection and analysis on the droplet after the PCR amplification reaction is completed.
Specifically, thefluorescence imaging device 220 includes: a laser light source which is positioned right above the region of the droplet-type PCR chip 10 and has an incident direction of 45 degrees; the zoom lens and the CCD camera are positioned right above the region of thedroplet PCR chip 10; and the band-pass fluorescent filter is positioned between the variable-focus lens and the CCD camera. The excitation light source comprises a Light Emitting Diode (LED) and a 15 ° lens and a bandpass excitation light filter having a center wavelength of 473nm and a bandwidth of 10 nm. In addition, the band-pass fluorescence filter had a center wavelength of 535nm and a bandwidth of 40 nm.
After the PCR amplification reaction is finished, the light emitting diodes in the system are uniformly obliquely projected on the region of thedroplet tiling cavity 130 of thedroplet PCR chip 10 from 45 ° above thedroplet PCR chip 10 through a 15 ° lens and a band-pass excitation light filter. A 15 ° lens and a bandpass excitation light filter are used for focusing and filtering, respectively. The 45-degree oblique light path can effectively reduce the scattering background of the exciting light, so that the sensitivity of fluorescence detection is improved. After the fluorescence in the liquid drop is excited, the variable-focus lens above the liquid drop can be used for collecting the fluorescence, the fluorescence enters the CCD camera after being filtered by the band-pass fluorescence filter, and the fluorescence picture is collected by the CCD camera so as to obtain the PCR reaction result.
The thermal cycling device, theoil injection device 230, theheat sealing device 210 and thefluorescence imaging device 220 in the present application can alternately act on the region of the droplet-type PCR chip 10 through the switching mechanism. Of course, the droplet-type PCR chip 10 may be transferred to the working regions of the respective apparatuses in sequence by a transfer mechanism.
The application also provides a use method of the liquid droptype PCR chip 10 and the detection system thereof, which comprises the following steps:
firstly, generating and spreading liquid drops.
Now, 50 μ l of oil phase is added into theoil phase reservoir 110, and after the oil phase fills the wholeoil phase reservoir 110 and flows into thePCR reagent reservoir 120 through thefluid flow path 150, 20-30 μ l of the prepared PCR reagent to be detected is added into thePCR reagent reservoir 120. Since the oil phase has flowed into thePCR reagent reservoir 120, the PCR reagent can be sufficiently contacted and mixed with the oil phase, and thefirst flow path 151 is filled with the oil phase, so that the PCR reagent can be prevented from flowing back to thefirst flow path 151 to cause waste.
And respectively applying air pressure of 50-300mbar to the PCR reagentliquid storage tank 120 and the oil phaseliquid storage tank 110, maintaining for 1-5min, allowing the mixed oil phase and the PCR reagent to pass through the liquiddrop generation channel 160 to generate liquid drops with the oil phase wrapping the water phase, and allowing the liquid drops to enter the liquiddrop tiling cavity 130.
And secondly, sealing the liquid droptype PCR chip 10.
After the liquid drop occurs, the liquid droptype PCR chip 10 is put into a detection system, and theoil injection device 230 automatically adds 20-30 μ l of mineral oil into the oil phaseliquid storage tank 110, the PCR reagentliquid storage tank 120 and the outletliquid storage tank 140.
Then theheat sealing device 210 automatically heat-seals the tin foil or the aluminum foil at the open end of each liquid storage tank, thereby realizing the sealing of the droplet-type PCR chip 10 and preventing the bubbles generated by heat in the oil phase from leaking out to extrude the droplets out of thedroplet tiling cavity 130; in addition, since the vapor pressure generated by heat in the oil phase is retained inside the droplet-type PCR chip 10 after sealing, the vapor pressure inside thedroplet tiling cavity 130 is further increased, so that the generation of bubbles inside the droplet-type PCR chip 10 can be reduced or avoided.
And thirdly, detecting the PCR fluorescence of the liquid drops.
Thefluorescence imaging device 220 automatically performs fluorescence detection on the droplets after the PCR amplification reaction is completed, so that the droplets after the PCR amplification reaction are directly subjected to fluorescence collection and analysis.
The above description is only an example of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application, and all modifications of equivalent structures and equivalent processes, which are made by the contents of the specification and the drawings, or which are directly or indirectly applied to other related technical fields, are intended to be included within the scope of the present application.