A Nanoconfined, Hydrogel-Partitioned LAMP Platform for Rapid, Extraction-Free Quantification of Mycoplasma pneumoniae

Accurate quantification of Mycoplasma pneumoniae ( M. pneumoniae ) is important because pathogen load is associated with disease severity and treatment outcomes. However, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) requires DNA extraction and standard-curve calibration, whereas digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) remains costly and less accessible. Here, we developed gLAMP-X, an extraction-free hydrogel-limited amplification (gLAMP) platform for rapid quantification of M. pneumoniae from clinical throat swabs. The “X” component denotes extraction-free lysis that disrupts the lipid bilayer of M. pneumoniae while preserving nucleic acid integrity. In gLAMP-X, a polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based nanoporous hydrogel partitions loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) into isolated nanoscopic microreactors, converting homogeneous amplification into a digital-like system in which each event forms a discrete fluorescent cluster for end point counting. Under optimized conditions, gLAMP-X achieved a limit of detection of 1.7 copies/μL within 20 min. In 90 pediatric throat swabs, gLAMP-X showed 100% sensitivity, 98.1% specificity, and strong quantitative agreement with qPCR.