Cancer is one of the most frequent causes of death globally and kills more than 8 million people per year. Cancer biomarkers, such as circulating free tumor nucleic acids (ctNA), are promising for detecting cancers early. Detecting ctNA in body fluids is challenging, because of the low ctNA concentration and the low frequency of mutations compared to wild-type sequences. Nanotechnology bioelectronic methods can help to address this challenge. In particular, the Scanning Tunneling Microscopic (STM)-assisted break junctions method (STM-BJ) has recently allowed the first demonstration of detection and identification of RNA from E.Coli via single-molecule conductance. This is an ideal new method for liquid biopsies since it is non-invasive, highly sensitive, and specific.<br/>In this work, we focus on characterizing ctNAs and investigate an effective method for their ultra-sensitive detection in complex samples using STM-BJ. The main hypothesis of the study is that the sequences of ctNAs can be used to detect cancers electrically. We focus the study on KRAS, BRAF, and Nras as effective cancer biomarkers, in agreement with data from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Our initial analysis paves the way for the early detection of bioelectronic fingerprints from biomarkers, such as ctDNA and ctRNA, through liquid biopsy using nanotechnology. This new method may allow beginning treatments early, potentially saving many lives from cancer patients in the future.

Novel method to detect cancer biomarkers using single-molecule electrical techniques for liquid biopsy applications

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.