Nano Sensor Measures MicroRNAs Could Speed Up Cancer Detection

저자：   업로드：2015-11-23  조회수：

    The role of microRNAs in the detection of various types of cancer has become increasingly evident over the past several years. However, a major drawback of using these molecules as a diagnostic indicator of disease has been developing a method that is sensitive enough to detect minuscule amounts of the genetic material in a timeframe that is relevant to therapeutic intervention.

    A simple, ultrasensitive microRNA sensor developed and tested by researchers from the schools of science and medicine at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center holds promise for the design of new diagnostic strategies and, potentially, for the prognosis and treatment of pancreatic and other cancers.

    “We used the fundamental concepts of nanotechnology to design the sensor to detect and quantify biomolecules at very low concentrations," explained co-senior author and sensor developer Rajesh Sardar, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry at IUPUI. “We have designed an ultrasensitive technique so that we can see minute changes in microRNA concentrations in a patient's blood and confirm the presence of pancreatic cancer."

    The findings from this study were published recently in ACS Nano through an article entitled “Label-Free Nanoplasmonic-Based Short Noncoding RNA Sensing at Attomolar Concentrations Allows for Quantitative and Highly Specific Assay of MicroRNA-10b in Biological Fluids and Circulating Exosomes.”

    MicroRNAs are small non-coding stretches of RNA (about 22 nucleotides long) found in plants, animals, and some viruses that regulate the expression or silencing of mRNA molecules. In recent years, researchers have discovered that these regulatory molecules contain unique sequence signatures that play an important part in carcinogenesis and can be found circulating in the bloodstream of patients with various tumors, such as those with pancreatic cancer.

    "If we can establish that there is cancer in the pancreas because the sensor detects high levels of microRNA-10b or one of the other microRNAs associated with that specific cancer, we may be able to treat it sooner," noted co-senior author Murray Korc, M.D., professor of medicine and cancer research at the IU School of Medicine.

    "That's especially significant for pancreatic cancer, because for many patients it is symptom-free for years or even a decade or more, by which time it has spread to other organs when surgical removal is no longer possible and therapeutic options are limited," Dr. Korc remarked. "For example, diagnosis of pancreatic cancer at an early stage of the disease followed by surgical removal is associated with a 40 percent five-year survival. Diagnosis of metastatic pancreatic cancer, by contrast, is associated with a life expectancy that is often only a year or less."