Barcode specific immobilization interface for microfluidics-assisted spatial analysis microarray uniform barcoding

Abstract

Microfluidics-assisted spatially barcoded microarray technology offers a high-throughput, low-cost approach to spatial transcriptomic profiling. A uniform barcoded microarray is crucial for spatially unbiased mRNA analysis. However, non-specific adsorption of barcoding reagents in microchannels occurs during liquid transport, causing nonuniform barcoding in chip functional regions. The uneven microarray further leads to biased transcriptome capture. Herein, we develop a barcode specific immobilization (BarSI) interface with both anti-adsorption property and biological activity for the development of uniform spatially barcoded microarray chips. We immobilize DNA probes in straight and serpentine microchannels with coefficient of variation (CV) of 2.3% and 3.2%. Based on the orthogonal barcoding system, we develop spatially barcoded microarray chips with an overall fluorescence intensity CV of 8.47 ± 1.26%, compared with the CV of 20.91 ± 2.84% of microarrays developed on conventional amino glass slides. Using the uniform spatially barcoded microarray chip, we achieve spatially unbiased detection of mouse liver mRNA with the absolute value of Moran’s I below 0.05. We present an economical and accessible method for manufacturing uniform spatially barcoded microarray chips, introducing a novel strategy for unbiased transcriptome analysis.

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 May 2025
Accepted
17 Aug 2025
First published
19 Aug 2025

Analyst, 2025, Accepted Manuscript

Barcode specific immobilization interface for microfluidics-assisted spatial analysis microarray uniform barcoding

S. Tian, Y. Li, J. Yao, C. Huan, W. Zhang, S. Li, Z. Zhang, Z. Guo, Q. Yang, C. Li, C. Li, J. Li and L. Zhou, Analyst, 2025, Accepted Manuscript , DOI: 10.1039/D5AN00534E

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