CRISPR/Cas on Microfluidic Paper-Based Analytical Devices for Point-of-Care Screening of Cervical Cancer

May 19, 2025ACS sensors

Using CRISPR and Paper-Based Devices for On-the-Spot Cervical Cancer Screening

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Abstract

A detection limit of 1 fM for high-risk HPV was achieved using a novel microfluidic paper-based device.

The integrated system combines recombinase polymerase amplification with CRISPR/Cas12a biosensing for HPV detection.
Sensitivity of the system was 1 pM in about 1 hour with a linear reporter.
Introducing a circular reporter improved the detection limit to 1 fM within 35 minutes.
Validation with 50 clinical cervical swab samples showed 95% sensitivity and 100% specificity compared to qPCR.
This platform may enhance early screening for high-risk HPV in resource-limited point-of-care settings.

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Highly sensitive point-of-care early screening for high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infections is urgently needed, particularly in resource-limited settings. Nucleic acid amplification methods, especially CRISPR/Cas-based biosensors, have emerged as promising tools for sensitive HPV detection; however, current approaches typically rely on tedious tube-based formats coupled with lateral flow assays for signal readout in point-of-care testing (POCT). Here, we developed customized microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) with valves that seamlessly integrated recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) with CRISPR/Cas12a biosensing (RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a) on the filter paper substrate. This innovation achieved sensitive and cost-effective high-risk HPV detection in POCT. The RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a system with a linear reporter on μPADs, enabled fluorescence detection of the E7 gene, achieving a sensitivity of 1 pM at approximately 1 h. The sensitivity was further enhanced by introducing a circular reporter into the fluorescence-based RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a system on μPADs, enabling detection of the E7 gene with a detection limit of 1 fM and an assay time of 35 min. The system was validated using 50 cervical swab clinical samples, demonstrating 95% sensitivity and 100% specificity when compared to qPCR. This sample-to-answer detection platform holds significant promise for early screening of high-risk HPV infections in point-of-care scenarios.

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CRISPR/Cas on Microfluidic Paper-Based Analytical Devices for Point-of-Care Screening of Cervical Cancer

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