Microscale Thermophoresis: A Versatile Tool for Bioanalytical Applications

Yonatan Biniuri, Chemistry, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel (yonatan.biniuri@mail.huji.ac.il)

 Microscale Thermophoresis: A Versatile Tool for Bioanalytical Applications

Yonatan Biniuri, Amit Fischer, Guofeng Luo and Itamar Willner

            Microscale Thermophoresis is a rapidly developing technique to characterize molecular or macromolecular recognition events. According to this method, an LED-laser beam heats a micro-spot in a sample, resulting in a heat gradient leading to the thermophoretic migration of the constituents in the heated micro-spot. By the labelling of the constituents with a fluorophore, the resulting, time-dependent, change in fluorescence enables the dynamic tracing of the thermophoretic process. Since the thermophoretic migration is controlled by the size, shape, charge and weight of the migrating constituent, the method provides a versatile tool to follow quantitively recognition/sensing events. The bioanalytical versatile uses of microscale thermophoresis will be exemplified with:

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  The reversible reconfiguration of G-quadruplex in the presence of K⁺/crown ether.


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  The application of the method to analyse the formation of the tyrosinamide/tyrosinamide-aptamer complex.


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  To apply microscale thermophoresis for the selective detection of specific genes overexpressed is different cancer cells.