Fluorescent labeling based acoustofluidic screening of Japanese Encephalitis Virus

Abstract The Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) as one of the main causes of encephalitis in Asia has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths. Early and efficient diagnosis of the virus is essential to prevent the spread of JEV. Here, we present a fluorescent labeling based acoustofluidic method for JEV screening. The carboxy-functionlised polystyrene (PS) microspheres were conjugated with monoclonal anti-JEV antibody (mAb) and then captured JEV in a complex biological samples. The composites of PS-mAb-JEV were separated in the microfluidic device via travelling surface acoustic (TSAW) force. The separated composites were labelled with FITC-conjugate anti-JEV antibody 2H4 and then were detected by the fluorescent signal. Experimental results proved the highly efficient separation and specific detection of JEV in the biological sample. Also, the acoustic-wave based separation method can separate efficiently almost all types of particles and has little effect on the subsequent genetic testing and fluorescence detection of JEV. Meantime, the fluorescence labeling method for JEV detection doesn’t need the laborious pretreatment and capable of offering a rapid and reliable detection approach. This is the first time to detect virus based on acoustofluidic driving and fluorescent labeling, which is a promising method for screening virus in the future biomedical applications.