Substrates and associated methods for elution of nucleic acids

1. A solid substrate for eluting biomolecules from a biological sample, consisting essentially of:

a cellulose membrane;

a plurality of hydrophilic negatively charged groups covalently linked to a surface of the cellulose membrane; and

one or more protein denaturing agents impregnated in the cellulose membrane under a substantially dry state;

wherein the solid substrate is a non-water dissolvable substrate.

2. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of hydrophilic negatively charged groups comprises a carboxylic group, a sulfonic group, a phosphate group, or combinations thereof.

3. The substrate of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of negatively charged groups comprise a carboxylic acid or carboxylate group.

4. The substrate of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of hydrophilic negatively charged groups comprises a sulfonic acid or sulfonate group.

5. The substrate of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of hydrophilic negatively charged groups is developed using one or more e-beam reactive compounds comprising a methacrylate, an acrylate, an acrylamide, a vinyl ketone, a styrenic, a vinyl ether, a vinyl-containing moiety, an allyl-containing moiety, a benzyl-based compound, a tertiary-carbon (CHR3)-based compound, and any combination of two or more of the said functional moieties.

6. The substrate of claim 5 , wherein the e-beam reactive compound further comprises an ester, an aliphatic, an aromatic, a hydrophilic compound, a hetero-aromatic compound, or any combination of two or more of the said linkages.

7. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein the substrate further comprises a reducing agent, a buffer, a chelating agent, an anti-oxidant or combinations thereof.

8. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein the protein denaturing agents are selected from guanidinium thiocyanate, guanidinium hydrochloride, arginine, and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), urea, and combinations thereof.

9. The substrate of claim 7 , wherein the reducing agent is selected from the group consisting of dithiothreitol (DTT), 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME), and tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine (TCEP), and combinations thereof.

10. The substrate of claim 7 , wherein the buffer is selected from the group consisting of 2-Amino-2-hydroxymethyl-propane-1,3-diol (Tris), 2-(N-morpholino) ethanesulfonic acid (MES), 3-(N-morpholino) propanesulfonic acid (MOPS), citrate buffers, 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethanesulfonic acid (HEPES), phosphate buffers, and combinations thereof.

11. The substrate of claim 7 , wherein the chelating agent is selected from the group consisting of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), citric acid, ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid (EGTA), and combinations thereof.

12. The substrate of claim 7 , wherein the anti-oxidant is selected from the group consisting of hydroquinone monomethyl ether (MEHQ), hydroquinone (HQ), toluhydroquinone (THQ), ascorbic acid, uric acid, and combinations thereof.

13. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is configured to elute one or more biomolecules from the biological sample.

14. The substrate of claim 13 , wherein the one or more biomolecules comprise a protein, peptide or a nucleic acid.

15. The substrate of claim 13 , wherein the one or more biomolecules are nucleic acids comprising DNA.

16. A method for eluting a biomolecule from a biological material disposed on a substrate, comprising:

contacting the biological material to a substrate, wherein the substrate is a non-water dissolvable substrate consisting essentially of cellulose membrane a plurality of negatively charged groups covalently linked to a surface of the cellulose membrane to form a modified surface, and a composition comprising a protein denaturant, a reducing agent and a buffer impregnated in the cellulose membrane;

binding the biomolecule to the modified surface of the cellulose membrane to form biomolecule-bound modified surface;

washing the biomolecule of the biomolecule-bound modified surface; and

eluting the biomolecule from the biomolecule-bound modified surface.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the biomolecule binds to the modified surface by non-covalent interaction.

18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising washing the biomolecule of the biomolecule-bound modified surface with a wash buffer.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the biomolecule is eluted from the biomolecule-bound modified surface by using an elution buffer.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of negatively charged groups comprise a carboxylic group, a sulfonic group, a phosphate group, or any combination thereof.

21. The method of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of negatively charged groups comprises a carboxylic group or a sulfonic group.

22. The method of claim 16 , wherein the biomolecule comprises a protein, peptide or a nucleic acid.

23. The method of claim 16 , wherein the biomolecule is a nucleic acid comprising DNA.

24. A method for elution of a nucleic acid from a biological material disposed on a surface of a non-water dissolvable cellulose substrate, comprising:

contacting the biological material to the substrate surface consisting essentially of a plurality of hydrophilic negatively charged groups covalently linked to the substrate surface, and then contacting the substrate with a composition comprising a protein denaturant, a reducing agent and a buffer in a dry state to extract the nucleic acid disposed on the surface;

reversibly binding the extracted nucleic acid on the negatively charged substrate surface;

washing the nucleic acid bound surface; and

eluting the nucleic acid from the negatively charged substrate surface.