A "lab-on-a-chip" could help detect cancers and a number of other diseases in their early stages using biomarkers called "exosomes."
Exosomes are tiny membrane vesicles that are released from most cells, the University of Kansas reported.
"First described in the mid-'80s, they were once thought to be 'cell dust,' or trash bags containing unwanted cellular contents. However, in the past decade scientists realized that exosomes play important roles in many biological functions through capsuling and delivering molecular messages in the form of nucleic acids and proteins from the donor cells to affect the functions of nearby or distant cells. In other words, this forms a crucial pathway in which cells talk to others," said Yong Zeng, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Kansas.
Exosomes are only a fraction as thick as a sheet of paper, making them extremely difficult to detect and separate. There are very few technologies available to test for these biomarkers, and the ones that do exist are complicated and time consuming. The "lab-on-a-chip," could provide answers with faster result times, reduced cost, and smaller sample sizes.
"A lab-on-a-chip shrinks the pipettes, test tubes and analysis instruments of a modern chemistry lab onto a microchip-sized wafer," Zeng said. "Also referred to as 'microfluidics' technology, it was inspired by revolutionary semiconductor electronics and has been under intensive development since the 1990s. Essentially, it allows precise manipulation of minuscule fluid volumes down to one trillionth of a liter or less to carry out multiple laboratory functions, such as sample purification, running of chemical and biological reactions, and analytical measurement."
The researchers have now developed a lab-on-a-chip that could be effective at detecting lung cancer, which is usually diagnosed through invasive biopsies. This new innovation could allow lung cancer to be detected in earlier stages using only a small drop of the patients' blood.
The researchers have also tested for ovarian cancer through this method and could be used to detect a number of other cancer in the future. This new way of testing could help scientists develop better predictive biomarkers and lead to better clinical outcomes in cancer cases.
The findings were published in a recent edition of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
