Quantitative analysis of circulating biomarkers in cancer is critical for developing liquid-biopsy based methods for non-invasive diagnosis and monitoring of therapy response. However, in many case circulating biomarkers (e.g., ctDNA, circulating tumore cells, and tumor-derived exosomes) are present at very low concentration levels, especially at the early stages of disease. In comparison with nucleic acids that can be amplified, quantitative detection of low-level proteins and extracellular vesicles remains very challenging. Here we will present new microfluidic bioanalytical platforms functionalized with nanomaterials, such as graphene nanomaterials, for ultrasensitive analysis of circulating biomarkers with broad dynamic range. These nano-/micro hybrid technologies substantially enhances the analytical metrics, while reducing the sample demand and analysis time. As a proof of concept for clinical applications, we have adapted these microfluidic platforms to quantitatively measure protein biomarkers and tumor-derived exosomes in the circulation as a means for liquid biopsy based non-invasive diagnosis of cancer diagnostics. Overall, these nanomaterial-inspired microfluidic systems would provide enabling bioanalytical technologies to promote quantitative measurement of complex biological systems and clinical disease diagnosis.

Nanomaterial-Inspired microfluidic technologies for biomarker analysis

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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