Bacterial Isolation by
Lectin-Modified Microengines
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Abstract
New template-based self-propelled gold/nickel/polyaniline/platinum
(Au/Ni/PANI/Pt) microtubular engines, functionalized with the Concanavalin
A (ConA) lectin bioreceptor, are shown to be extremely useful for
the rapid, real-time isolation of <i>Escherichia coli</i> (<i>E. coli</i>) bacteria from fuel-enhanced environmental,
food, and clinical samples. These multifunctional microtube engines
combine the selective capture of <i>E. coli</i> with the
uptake of polymeric drug-carrier particles to provide an attractive
motion-based theranostics strategy. Triggered release of the captured
bacteria is demonstrated by movement through a low-pH glycine-based
dissociation solution. The smaller size of the new polymer-metal microengines
offers convenient, direct, and label-free optical visualization of
the captured bacteria and discrimination against nontarget cells