A possible pathogenetic factor of sickle-cell disease based on fluorescent analysis via an optofluidic resonator

作者:Dai, Hailang; Yin, Cheng; Ye, Xiaona; Jiang, Bei; Ran, Maowu; Cao, Zhuangqi; Chen, Xianfeng*
来源:Scientific Reports, 2017, 7(1): 3174.
DOI:10.1038/s41598-017-03634-8

摘要

Waveguide based optofluidic resonator features high precision and high sensitivity in real-time fluorescent analysis. We present a novel optofluidic resonator following the hollow-core metal-cladding waveguide structure, which is then used to record the real-time binding process of Fe2+ and Fe3+ with protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) in PBS solution, respectively. The central fluorescent wavelength of compound with Fe2+ is in good accordance with that of the normal hemoglobin, whilst the peaks of the Fe3+ compound match the hemoglobin specimen from sickle-cell disease (SCD) patients. Similar statement holds when we monitor the real-time oxidation processes of these products by injecting oxygen into the optofluidic chip. These observations lead to the speculation that the SCD is caused by replacing the Fe2+ in hemoglobin with Fe3+, which may be insightful in the discovery of new clinical routes to cure this disease.