|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Researchers at the University of Rochester are working on a method to rapidly diagnose cancer and assess the progress of therapies.
The technique uses ultrathin membranes to capture cellular material called extracellular vesicles. These structures have various molecules like nucleic acids, proteins and lipids that can provide information about the cells that released them. As a result, many researchers have targeted these extracellular vesicles as agents of therapy and diagnosis.
UR’s scientists are using ultrathin membranes to capture these vesicles and identify them for rapid liquid biopsies. These biopsies can offer information about a tumor, which then aids in diagnoses and cancer treatments.
“By searching samples of blood or other bodily fluids for these extracellular vesicles and the biomarkers they carry, you can find important clues that something is amiss in the body,” says James McGrath, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Biomedical Engineering and leader of the study. “The idea has been around for a while, but previously it required many purification steps to isolate the EVs away from other components of the biofluid.”
In an article published in Small, McGrath and others outline the method known as catch and display for liquid biopsies, or CAD-LB. They argue that large assays aren’t sensitive enough to detect subsets of rare extracellular vesicles relevant to disease.
With the CAD-LB technique, minimally processed samples are pipette-injected and fluorescently labeled extracellular vesicles are captured in the nanopores of an ultrathin membrane, the study states. A count of the pores that glow with the labeled extracellular vesicles offers insight into the prevalence of the disease.
“CAD-LB is much simpler and faster, which gives it the potential for clinical use that more complex methods lack,” McGrath says.
A co-founder and director of SimPore, a UR spinoff, McGrath is known for his work on nanomembranes and his interdisciplinary approach to research.
This study also showed CAD-LB’s ability to identify proteins that suppress or stimulate the immune system. This information can assess a patient’s ability to fight disease and their response to immunotherapies—a rapidly growing approach to combat cancer.
In addition to outlining the CAD-LB method, the study demonstrated the method’s ability to identify critical immune modulatory proteins on EVs. These proteins play an important role in helping the body fight tumors and can predict how well a patient might respond to immunotherapies.
“CAD-LB is currently sensitive enough to detect some cancers at a curable stage of their development, suggesting the technology’s potential for cancer screening,” says co-author Jonathan Flax, a research assistant professor at the UR Medical Center’s Department of Urology. “It may also be utilized to predict the patient-specific selection of immunotherapies, the treatment that directs the immune system to target and eliminate cancer cells.”
Smriti Jacob is Rochester Beacon managing editor. The Beacon welcomes comments and letters from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name. See “Leave a Reply” below to discuss on this post. Comments of a general nature may be submitted to the Letters page by emailing [email protected].
Our Nonprofit Newsroom Needs Your Support
The Rochester Beacon’s journalists are dedicated to bringing you high-quality local news and analysis. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit news outlet, we rely on donations from the community to stay paywall-free. Make a tax-deductible contribution today to support our hardworking journalists—and NewsMatch will double your donation.
■