Biology/chemical microarray (Biological/chemical microarray) is meant industrial technologies such as utilizing microelectronics, micromechanics, on solid phase carriers such as glass, silicon chip, plastics, press certain position array fixed biologically or chemical molecular, make and be applied to biology/chemico-analytic product, its effective object can be gene, protein or cell tissue etc.Biology/chemical microarray at present development product comprise genetic chip (Genechip, DNAchip or Microarray), protein-chip (protein chip), micro-fluid chip (Microfluidics) and lab-on-a-chip (Labs-on-a-chip) etc.Genetic chip wherein or title dna microarray are at present technical relatively ripe, the maximum a kind of biological micro-arrays of use.Genetic chip is meant thousands of dna probes is placed on the solid phase carrier by the certain position point, by molecular hyridization, target molecule is analyzed again.Biology/chemical microarray and technology thereof are with it fast, in a large number, characteristic is that the research in fields such as life science, medical science pharmacy, agricultural provides revolutionary means accurately.
The manufacturing technology of the genetic chip that uses has contact-type liquid transfer method, ink-jet method, in-situ synthesis etc. at present.In-situ synthesis has been successfully applied to short-chain nucleic acids chip (Southern etc., United States Patent (USP) 5,770,367; 5,770,637; 5,436,327.Pirrung etc., United States Patent (USP) 5,143,854.Fodor, United States Patent (USP) 5,744,305; 5,800,992.Winkler etc., United States Patent (USP) 5,384,261).The shortcoming of this method is that the microarray that can't be used for big molecule (as the DNA of long-chain) is made, and this method is relatively more expensive in addition and operation difficulty (United States Patent (USP) 6,101,649).Ink-jet method and other non-contact type liquid transfer methods also can be used for processing biology/chemical microarray (Brennan, United States Patent (USP) 5,474,796; Tisone, United States Patent (USP) 5,741,554; Hayes etc., United States Patent (USP) 5,658,802), be particularly useful for the sample of particular viscosity and other physical characteristicss, but be not suitable for several samples or unknown sample (United States Patent (USP) 5,927,947; 6,112,605), and this method has its inherent weak point, and it can't be made highdensity microarray and be not easy to control the quality of microarray (United States Patent (USP) 6,101,649).Contact-type liquid transfer method is present most widely used microarray method for making.The cardinal principle of this method is that thousands of points contact solid phase carriers after utilizing aciculiform liquid transfer device (spotting needle) to be stained with/to draw probe solution, thereby makes the chip that contains thousands of nucleic acid probe points.The major defect of this method is that expensive needle point rapid wear injures sampling point homogeneity relatively poor (Chinese patent CN1302904), though people have designed many kinds of spotting needles (United States Patent (USP) Augenlicht4,981,783; Drmanac etc., United States Patent (USP) 5,525,464; Roach, United States Patent (USP) 5,770,151; Brown etc., United States Patent (USP) 5,807,522; Chinese patent CN1302904) remedies these shortcomings, utilize this method can make highdensity chip, but its physical construction makes the number of this method spotting needle seldom (be generally 32 pins), efficient is restricted, make high-density biology/chemical microarray and need the long time, when especially point is put different sample on a chip, clean and dry up needle point and need a large amount of time, therefore can not satisfy the requirement (United States Patent (USP) 6 of more and more highdensity chip development trend, 245,297).
The present invention aim to provide a kind of accurate CONTROL VOLUME surface tension driving liquid stream chipization high-density micro-array ultramicron liquid transfer device---micro-array liquid shifts chip (microarrayer chip), and it can satisfy the requirement of current making biology/chemical microarray:
1, high density (diameter of each probe sample point is little, and the sample on the unit area is counted and wanted many);
2, sample spot good uniformity (this unanimity of probe molecule base of the diameter of every bit and every bit; Sample spot is accurately located);
3, high-level efficiency (mechanical action is transferred to sample on the biochip and counted and want many each time, and the cost of liquid transfer process is low, is convenient to make on a large scale biology/chemical chip);
4, devices with low cost (equipment is simple, and it is low and can disposablely use that micro-array liquid shifts chip cost, avoids cross pollution).
The high-density micro-array liquid transferring equipment of the chipization of said surface tension driving liquid stream is provided with a sheet carrier, the liquid that chip carrier is provided with the microarray ultramicron shifts combination, said combination comprises liquid storing part, liquid transfer head and microchannel, liquid storing part can be tank body, liquid storage tank, reservoir or liquid storage face etc. are used for the storaging liquid sample; Liquid transfer head (or claiming sampling head) is used for the transfer liquid sample; Said microchannel UNICOM is used for replenishing sample solution by liquid storing part to the liquid transfer head between liquid storing part and liquid transfer head.
The volume of liquid storing part (as tank body, liquid storage tank, reservoir or liquid storage face etc.) can be the liquid transfer head and carries 5000~10 times of the ultramicron volume that presets, is preferably 1000~100 times.The storing solution of different fluid samples (can be to receive and rise to microlitre) is stored in to array the liquid storing part of big quantity.Each liquid transfer head is carried the different sample solutions of the ultramicron volume that presets, and said ultramicron volume is presetted by the geometric parameter of liquid transfer head, can be 1 skin liter~100 and receives the volume that rises, and is preferably 100 skin liter~1 and receives liter.The liquid transfer head can be provided with the liquid storing part pairing, and the liquid transfer head can be made as tubulose, and is poroid, and curved surface or plane can be located in the chip carrier or the bottom surface of chip carrier, can be located at the side or the bottom of liquid storing part.
The effect of the microchannel of UNICOM's liquid storing part and liquid transfer head is to replenish sample solution by liquid storing part to the liquid transfer head.The shape of passage can be long and narrow open shape or enclosed shape, can establish filling material in the passage.
The shape of microchannel can be long and narrow open shape or enclosed shape, can establish filling material in the passage, porous packing preferably, and its parameter is carried the size of the ultramicron volume that presets by the liquid transfer head and is decided.
Thousands of groups the liquid transfer combination sum that is integrated in to said array on the chip carrier can be 10
1~10
5(depending on the needs).The area of the chip carrier of chipization shifts the combination sum on liquid to be decided, and can be made as 1~100cm
2Level.
The material of chip carrier can be macromolecular material, semiconductor material, metal or silicate material etc.
Said micro-array liquid shifts the making of chip can adopt photoetching technique, Laser Processing, molding or die casting etc.
The present invention can be added to hundreds and thousands of kinds required sample liquid respectively micro-array liquid in use and shift in each liquid storing part of chip.Flow into the corresponding liquid transfer head by the microchannel.Each liquid transfer head is carried the Asia that presets and is received the different sample solutions (can be DNA, protein, the solution of chemical/biological reagent/sample or the like) that rise volume.When accepting the carrier that liquid shifts, for example blank (or part is blank) biochip (or nylon membrane) and above-mentioned micro-array liquid shift that chip is placed abreast face-to-face and mutually near and when contacting, the entrained Asia of being scheduled to of thousands of array liquid transfer head is received the different samples that rise volume and is all just transferred to the former and form the microarray sample from the latter under surface tension effects basically.The two disengages then.(action of above-mentioned " placing face-to-face abreast and mutual close and contact " can be implemented aligning by the automation of sequencing, and also a step finishes).The liquid transfer head loses entrained Asia and receives after the upgrading volume sample, and every group of deposit sample liquid received the sample solution that rises volume via the microchannel to the additional Asia that presets of this group liquid transfer head automatically under surface tension effects.Changing another accepts to repeat said process behind the liquid transfer vector.It is hundreds and thousands of time to circulate, and then the deposit sample liquid of thousands of different cultivars can be received by the Asia that presets at every turn to rise volume and transfer to hundreds and thousands of and accept on the liquid transfer vector.
Compared with prior art, advantage of the present invention is:
1, this device adopts high density, the chip micro-array liquid shifts chip structure, its structure is not only very simple, and the microstream process that shifts of the micro liquid of whole device can an abutment surface tension force effect, therefore the distance (pitch) that adjacent liquid shifts between the combination can be very near, the liquid that each device is arranged shifts combination can thousands of groups, the sample kind number that each step shifts far surpasses existing technology, that is to say, the storing solution of thousands of different cultivars can be received by the Asia that presets at every turn risen volume and transfer on hundreds and thousands of the biochips, improve the efficient of preparation biochip greatly.
2, because the structure of the micro-array liquid of surperficial micro liquid transfer device transfer chip is very simple, and the microstream process of whole device can an abutment surface tension force effect, therefore manufacturing cost of the present invention is very low, might avoid washing and cross pollution as disposable product.
3, because the entrained different samples of liquid transfer head are the different sample solutions that preset volume.Under surface tension effects, all transfer to basically on the biochip (for example nylon membrane), so the reappearance of transfer volume is better at every turn.
4, because the entrained different samples of liquid transfer head are the volume that presets, this volume depends mainly on the parameter of the liquid transfer head structure of device, therefore can be set at the Asia and receive and rise or skin rises volume, consequently can hold more more intensive array points on each biological core.
In sum, the characteristic of the present invention's, pinpoint accuracy high-speed with it, high density and chipization is that the scientific research and the technological development in fields such as life science, medical science pharmacy, agricultural provides revolutionary means.