US 12,227,781 B2
Methods using photothermal nanoparticles in rapid nucleic acid amplification and photothermal nanoparticles
Zhiyang Zeng, San Luis Obispo, CA (US); Maria Perez Cardenas, San Luis Obispo, CA (US); Cesear Corona, Paso Robles, CA (US); Wenhui Zhou, San Luis Obispo, CA (US); Poncho Meisenheimer, Madison, WI (US); Doug Storts, Fitchburg, WI (US); and Andrew Taft, Fitchburg, WI (US)
Assigned to Promega Corporation, Fitchburg, WI (US)
Filed by Promega Corporation, Madison, WI (US)
Filed on May 21, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/880,917.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/851,403, filed on May 22, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2020/0370083 A1, Nov. 26, 2020
Int. Cl. C12P 19/34 (2006.01); C12N 15/10 (2006.01); C12Q 1/686 (2018.01); B82Y 5/00 (2011.01)
CPC C12P 19/34 (2013.01) [C12N 15/1006 (2013.01); C12Q 1/686 (2013.01); B82Y 5/00 (2013.01); C12Q 2523/313 (2013.01); C12Q 2563/155 (2013.01)] 13 Claims
 
1. A method for rapid amplification of a nucleic acid molecule with a polymerase chain reaction comprising:
forming a reaction mixture including a nucleic acid template, a polymerase enzyme, and a heating media on a substrate, a microchip, a plate, or a multi-well plate including photothermal nanoparticles immobilized on a substrate surface of the substrate, fabricated on the microchip, or fabricated on a surface of the plate or a well of the multi-well plate, wherein the photothermal nanoparticles are made essentially of gold and have a particular geometric shape and comprise a single component or a multi-component, and the photothermal nanoparticles are further categorized by surface plasmon resonance with a resonance wavelength in a particular range to convert energy absorbed from a light source to sufficiently heat a volume of a composition for transcription of a new nucleic acid strand, and wherein the particular geometric shape is selected from the group consisting of: polyhedral, spheroid, torus, and hollow shapes; and
irradiating the reaction mixture at a wavelength ranging from 300 nm to 1500 nm, depending on the particular geometric shape of the photothermal nanoparticles, sufficient for heating the reaction mixture at a rate up to 75 degrees Celsius per second to complete amplification thermal cycles in 15 minutes or less time by adjusting a concentration of photothermal nanoparticles.