Hyper-throughput Biomarker Detection
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh have developed a platform technology for hyper-throughput biomarker detection with single molecule sensitivity.
Description
Designed to be simple to build and use, relatively low cost, robust and compact, this novel platform can provide ultra-high precision and ultra-high throughput with the potential to hugely advance the field of quantitative single exosome analysis and single molecule imaging.Applications
• Single molecule imaging• Single exosome analysis
• Early disease detection
Advantages
Exosomes are nano-sized vesicles secreted from cells. They are relatively stable and carry a rich amount of unique information including disease-associated proteins and microRNAs derived from parental cells. Identification of unique biomarkers present in exosomes could allow for earlier detection of a host of diseases, determination of prognosis, long term monitoring and development of individualized treatment strategies. Current methods struggle to distinguish exosomes containing information from diseased cells from bulk exosomes due to limited numbers. Development of new methods to detect and identify disease-related exosomes is needed to fully understand and utilize the biomarkers they contain.Based upon an optical configuration of Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy and the inclusion of an ultra-large field of view, high-density exosome detection, molecular-counting based multiplex quantitative analysis of biomarkers and super-resolved imaging capabilities, this novel platform will allow for significantly higher throughput, multiplicity, and accuracy, all vital for single exosome analysis. This novel platform could overcome existing challenges in exosome analysis improving the use of single exosome analysis in both research and clinical settings.