Notre Dame researchers develop rapid, affordable brain cancer blood test
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University of Notre Dame researchers have developed an automated device for diagnosing glioblastoma, a fast-growing and incurable brain cancer, in less than an hour, revolutionizing care for patients who historically only survive for 12-18 months after diagnosis.
The innovation centers on a biochip that uses electrokinetic technology to detect active Epidermal Growth Factor Receptors (EGFRs), a kind of biomarker which are overexpressed in cancers such as glioblastoma.
“Extracellular vesicles or exosomes are unique nanoparticles secreted by cells. They are big, 10 to 50 times bigger than a molecule and they have a weak charge,” Notre Dame Bayer Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Hsueh-Chia Chang said in a news release. “Our technology was specifically designed for these nanoparticles, using their features to our advantage.”
Chang is the lead author of a study that has now been published in Communications Biology, a peer-reviewed journal.
The team had to develop a process to effectively distinguish between active and non-active EGFRs as well as create a diagnostic technology that was both sensitive and selective for accurate detection, Notre Dame said.
“Our electrokinetic sensor allows us to do things other diagnostics cannot. We can directly load blood without any pretreatment to isolate the extracellular vesicles because our sensor is not affected by other particles or molecules.” Notre Dame Research Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Satyajyoti Senapati said. “It shows low noise and makes ours more sensitive for disease detection than other technologies.”
The device is made up of two permanent fixtures, the automation interface and portable machine prototype administering materials to run the test. The third part, the biochip, has to be replaced with each new test. Each test requires only 100 microliters of blood and fresh biochips cost less than $2 to produce.
Researchers say the device could possibly have application for other types of biological nanoparticles, upending the possibilities. Chang said the team is currently exploring the device’s utility for diagnosing pancreatic cancer, cardiovascular disease, dementia and epilepsy.
“Our technique is not specific to glioblastoma, but it was particularly appropriate to start with it because of how deadly it is and the lack of early screening tests available,” Chang said. “Our hope is that if early detection is more feasible, then there is an increased chance of survival.”
Blood samples for testing the device were provided by the Centre for Research in Brain Cancer at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia.
In addition to Chang and Senapati, other collaborators include former postdocs at Notre Dame Nalin Maniya and Sonu Kumar; Jeffrey Franklin, James Higginbotham and Robert Coffey from Vanderbilt University; and Andrew Scott and Hui Gan from the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute and La Trobe University.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health Common Fund.