Detection Of Low-abundance Biomarkers Research Articles

Branched Polyethylenimine-Modified Upconversion Nanohybrid-Mediated Photoelectrochemical Immunoassay with Synergistic Effect of Dual-Purpose Copper Ions

This work developed a near-infrared (near-IR) light-activated non-enzymatic signal-off photoelectrochemical (PEC) immunoassay for the ultrasensitive detection of α-fetoprotein (AFP) on the basis of branched polyethylenimine (BPEI)-modified upconversion nanoparticle (UCNP)@CdTe quantum dot (QD) nanostructures by coupling with the synergistic effect of dual-purpose copper ions. Emission light originated from NaYF4:Yb,Er UCNP was directly utilized through the electrostatic bonding of CdTe QDs to excite the separation of electron-hole pairs, resulting in the generation of obvious photocurrent under a 980 nm laser. By using polyclonal antibody-labeled cupric oxide nanoparticle as the secondary antibody, the nanolabel was introduced into the monoclonal anti-AFP antibody-modified microplates in the presence of target AFP. After treatment with acid, the as-released copper ion decreased the photocurrent through the synergistic effect with two issues: one was initially to form coordination with BPEI on the surface of UCNP, and then the near-IR excitation light and upconversion luminescence were attenuated due to the internal filter effect; another was to snatch the electrons flowing from the valence band of CdTe QD as the exciton trapping sites. Under optimal conditions, the dual-purpose Cu2+-activated signal-off PEC immunosensing platform exhibited a dynamic linear range from 10 pg mL-1 to 50 ng mL-1, accompanying the decreasing photocurrent with the increment of AFP concentration at an experimental detection limit of 1.2 pg mL-1. Importantly, good accuracy was achieved by this method in comparison with the results with human AFP ELISA kit for analysis of human serum samples. This dual-purpose Cu2+-activated PEC immunoassay brings a promising, enzyme-free and innovative thinking for the detection of low-abundance biomarkers.

Effects of Alanyl-Glutamine Treatment on the Peritoneal Dialysis Effluent Proteome Reveal Pathomechanism-Associated Molecular Signatures

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a modality of renal replacement therapy in which the high volumes of available PD effluent (PDE) represents a rich source of biomarkers for monitoring disease and therapy. Although this information could help guide the management of PD patients, little is known about the potential of PDE to define pathomechanism-associated molecular signatures in PD.We therefore subjected PDE to a high-performance multiplex proteomic analysis after depletion of highly-abundant plasma proteins and enrichment of low-abundance proteins. A combination of label-free and isobaric labeling strategies was applied to PDE samples from PD patients (n = 20) treated in an open-label, randomized, two-period, cross-over clinical trial with standard PD fluid or with a novel PD fluid supplemented with alanyl-glutamine (AlaGln).With this workflow we identified 2506 unique proteins in the PDE proteome, greatly increasing coverage beyond the 171 previously-reported proteins. The proteins identified range from high abundance plasma proteins to low abundance cellular proteins, and are linked to larger numbers of biological processes and pathways, some of which are novel for PDE. Interestingly, proteins linked to membrane remodeling and fibrosis are overrepresented in PDE compared with plasma, whereas the proteins underrepresented in PDE suggest decreases in host defense, immune-competence and response to stress. Treatment with AlaGln-supplemented PD fluid is associated with reduced activity of membrane injury-associated mechanisms and with restoration of biological processes involved in stress responses and host defense.Our study represents the first application of the PDE proteome in a randomized controlled prospective clinical trial of PD. This novel proteomic workflow allowed detection of low abundance biomarkers to define pathomechanism-associated molecular signatures in PD and their alterations by a novel therapeutic intervention.

Branched Hybridization Chain Reaction Circuit for Ultrasensitive Localizable Imaging of mRNA in Living Cells.

Hybridization chain reaction (HCR) circuits are valuable approaches to monitor low-abundance mRNA, and current HCR is still subjected to issues such as limited amplification efficiency, compromised localization resolution, or complicated designs. We report a novel branched HCR (bHCR) circuit for efficient signal-amplified imaging of mRNA in living cells. The bHCR can be realized using a simplified design by hierarchically coupling two HCR circuits with two split initiator fragments of the secondary HCR circuit incorporated in the probes for the primary HCR circuit. The bHCR circuit enables one to generate a hyperbranched assembly seeded from a single target initiator, affording the potential for localizing single target molecules in live cells. In vitro assays show that bHCR offers very high amplification efficiency and specificity in single mismatch discrimination with a detection limit of 500 fM. Live cell studies reveal that bHCR displays intense fluorescence spots indicating mRNA localization in living cells with improved contrast. The bHCR method can provide a useful platform for low-abundance biomarker detection and imaging for cell biology and diagnostics.

\u201cTORNADO\u201d \u2013 Theranostic One-Step RNA Detector; microfluidic disc for the direct detection of microRNA-134 in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid

Diagnosis of seizure disorders such as epilepsy currently relies on clinical examination and electroencephalogram recordings and is associated with substantial mis-diagnosis. The miRNA, miR-134 (MIR134 in humans), has been found to be elevated in brain tissue after experimental status epilepticus and in human epilepsy cells and their detection in biofluids may serve as unique biomarkers. miRNAs from unprocessed human plasma and human cerebrospinal fluid samples were used in a novel electrochemical detection based on electrocatalytic platinum nanoparticles inside a centrifugal microfluidic device where the sandwich assay is formed using an event triggered release system, suitable for the rapid point-of-care detection of low abundance biomarkers of disease. The device has the advantage of controlling the rotation speed of the centrifugal device to pump nanoliter volumes of fluid at a set time and manipulate the transfer of liquids within the device. The centrifugal platform improves reaction rates and yields by proposing efficient mixing strategies to overcome diffusion-limited processes and improve mass transport rates, resulting in reduced hybridization times with a limit of detection of 1 pM target concentration. Plasma and cerebrospinal fluid samples (unprocessed) from patients with epilepsy or who experienced status epilepticus were tested and the catalytic response obtained was in range of the calibration plot. This study demonstrates a rapid and simple detection for epilepsy biomarkers in biofluid.

Enzymatic Oxydate-Triggered Self-Illuminated Photoelectrochemical Sensing Platform for Portable Immunoassay Using Digital Multimeter.

Herein a novel split-type photoelectrochemical (PEC) immunosensing platform was designed for sensitive detection of low-abundance biomarkers (prostate-specific antigen, PSA, used in this case) by coupling a peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence (PO-CL) self-illuminated system with digital multimeter (DMM) readout. The PEC detection device consisted of a capacitor/DMM-joined electronic circuit and a PO-CL-based self-illuminated cell. Initially, reduced graphene oxide-doped BiVO4 (BiVO4-rGO) photovoltaic materials with good photoelectric properties was integrated into the capacitor/DMM-joined circuit for photocurrent generation in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, as the hole-trapping reagent). A sandwich-type immunoreaction with target PSA was carried out in capture antibody-coated microplates by using glucose oxidase/detection antibody-conjugating gold nanoparticle (pAb2-AuNP-GOx). Accompanying the sandwiched immunocomplex, the labeled GOx could oxidize glucose to produce H2O2. The as-generated H2O2 could act as the coreaction reagent to trigger the chemiluminescence of the peroxyoxalate system and the PEC reaction of the BiVO4-rGO. Meanwhile, the self-illuminated light could induce photovoltaic material (BiVO4-rGO) to produce a voltage that was utilized to charge an external capacitor. With the switch closed, the capacitor could discharge through the DMM and provide an instantaneous current. Different from conventional PEC immunoassays, the as-generated photoelectron was stored in the capacitor and released instantaneously to amplify the photocurrent. Under the optimal conditions, the transient current increased with the increasing target PSA concentration in the dynamic working range from 10 pg mL(-1) to 80 ng mL(-1) with a detection limit (LOD) of 3 pg mL(-1). This work demonstrated for the first time that the peroxyoxalate CL system could be used as a suitable substitute of physical light source to apply in PEC immunoassay. In addition, this methodology afforded good reproducibility, precision, and high specificity, and the method accuracy matched well with the commercial PSA ELISA kit. Importantly, the developed split-type photoelectrochemical immunoassay could not only avoid the interfering of the biomolecules relative to the photovoltaic materials but also eliminate the need of an exciting light source and expensive instrumentation, thus representing a user-friendly and low-cost assay protocol for practical utilization in quantitative low-abundance proteins.

Smart detection of microRNAs through fluorescence enhancement on a photonic crystal

The detection of low abundant biomarkers, such as circulating microRNAs, demands innovative detection methods with increased resolution, sensitivity and specificity. Here, a biofunctional surface was implemented for the selective capture of microRNAs, which were detected through fluorescence enhancement directly on a photonic crystal. To set up the optimal biofunctional surface, epoxy-coated commercially available microscope slides were spotted with specific anti-microRNA probes. The optimal concentration of probe as well as of passivating agent were selected and employed for titrating the microRNA hybridization. Cross-hybridization of different microRNAs was also tested, resulting negligible. Once optimized, the protocol was adapted to the photonic crystal surface, where fluorescent synthetic miR-16 was hybridized and imaged with a dedicated equipment. The photonic crystal consists of a dielectric multilayer patterned with a grating structure. In this way, it is possible to take advantage from both a resonant excitation of fluorophores and an angularly redirection of the emitted radiation. As a result, a significant fluorescence enhancement due to the resonant structure is collected from the patterned photonic crystal with respect to the outer non-structured surface. The dedicated read-out system is compact and based on a wide-field imaging detection, with little or no optical alignment issues, which makes this approach particularly interesting for further development such as for example in microarray-type bioassays.

Digital quantification of miRNA directly in plasma using integrated comprehensive droplet digital detection.

Quantification of miRNAs in blood can be potentially used for early disease detection, surveillance monitoring and drug response evaluation. However, quantitative and robust measurement of miRNAs in blood is still a major challenge in large part due to their low concentration and complicated sample preparation processes typically required in conventional assays. Here, we present the 'Integrated Comprehensive Droplet Digital Detection' (IC 3D) system where the plasma sample containing target miRNAs is encapsulated into microdroplets, enzymatically amplified and digitally counted using a novel, high-throughput 3D particle counter. Using Let-7a as a target, we demonstrate that IC 3D can specifically quantify target miRNA directly from blood plasma at extremely low concentrations ranging from 10s to 10 000 copies per mL in ≤3 hours without the need for sample processing such as RNA extraction. Using this new tool, we demonstrate that target miRNA content in colon cancer patient blood is significantly higher than that in healthy donor samples. Our IC 3D system has the potential to introduce a new paradigm for rapid, sensitive and specific detection of low-abundance biomarkers in biological samples with minimal sample processing.

3D origami electrochemical immunodevice for sensitive point-of-care testing based on dual-signal amplification strategy

A dual signal amplification immunosensing strategy that offers high sensitivity and specificity for the detection of low-abundance biomarkers was designed on a 3D origami electrochemical device. High sensitivity was achieved by using novel Au nanorods modified paper working electrode (AuNRs-PWE) as sensor platform and metal ion-coated Au/bovine serum albumin (Au/BSA) nanospheres as tracing tags. High specificity was further obtained by the simultaneous measurement of two cancer markers on AuNRs-PWE surface using different metal ion-coated Au/BSA tracers. The metal ions could be detected directly through differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) without metal preconcentration, and the distinct voltammetric peaks had a close relationship with each sandwich-type immunoreaction. The position and size of the peaks reflected the identity and level of the corresponding antigen. Integrating the dual-signal amplification strategy, a novel 3D origami electrochemical immunodevice for simultaneous detecting carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cancer antigen 125 (CA125) with linear ranges of over 4 orders of magnitude with detection limits down to 0.08pgmL−1 and 0.06mUmL−1 was successfully developed. This strategy exhibits high sensitivity and specificity with excellent performance in real human serum assay. The AuNRs-PWE and the designed tracer on this immunodevice provided a new platform for low-cost, high-throughput and multiplex immunoassay and point-of-care testing in remote regions, developing or developed countries.

Stretch-stowage-growth strategy to fabricate tunable triply-amplified electrochemiluminescence immunosensor for ultrasensitive detection of pseudorabies virus antibody.

Triply amplified electrochemical biosensors have attracted particular attention in the detection of low-abundance biomarkers. The universal construction routes for nonenzymatic triply amplified and even multiply amplified biosensors are extremely desirable but remain challenging. Here, we proposed a "stretch-stowage-growth" strategy to tunably fabricate a nonenzymatic triply amplified or multiply amplified electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunosensor for ultrasensitive determining pseudorabies virus (PrV) antibody. Based on the matrix role of gold nanoparticle-graphene nanosheet (Au-GN) hybrids, carrier role of silicon nanoparticles (SNPs) and bridge role of "biotin-streptavidin-biotin" (B-SA-B) structure, the establishment processes were defined as "stretch", "stowage", and "growth", respectively. Relying on the interaction of antigen-antibody and of B-SA, the "Au-GN/PrV (Ag)/PrV antibody (Ab1)/biotinylated IgG (B-Ab2)/SA/biotinylated Ru(bpy)3(2+)-encapsulated SNPs (B-Ru@SNPs)" triply amplified biosensor could be fabricated and exhibited better analytical performance not only toward monoclonal PrV antibody with a linear detection range from 50 ng mL(-1) to 1 pg mL(-1) and a detection limit of 0.40 pg mL(-1), but also toward actual serum samples when compared with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and fluorometry. Furthermore, multiply amplified biosensors could be conveniently fabricated by controllably repeating the combination of B-Ru@SNPs and SA to form the B-SA-B structure. After it was repeated three times, the multiply amplified biosensor stretched to the maximum of signal amplification and achieved a luminescence quantum efficiency about 23.1-fold higher than the triply amplified biosensor. The tunable biosensor exhibits good stability, acceptable reproducibility and accuracy, suggesting its potential applications in clinical diagnostics.

Emerging nanoproteomics approaches for disease biomarker detection: A current perspective

Availability of genome sequence of human and different pathogens has advanced proteomics research for various clinical applications. One of the prime goals of proteomics is identification and characterization of biomarkers for cancer and other fatal human diseases to aid an early diagnosis and monitor disease progression. However, rapid detection of low abundance biomarkers from the complex biological samples under clinically relevant conditions is extremely difficult, and it requires the development of ultrasensitive, robust and high-throughput technological platform. In order to overcome several technical limitations associated with sensitivity, dynamic range, detection time and multiplexing, proteomics has started integrating several emerging disciplines such as nanotechnology, which has led to the development of a novel analytical platform known as 'nanoproteomics'. Among the diverse classes of nanomaterials, the quantum dots, gold nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes and silicon nanowires are the most promising candidates for diagnostic applications. Nanoproteomics offers several advantages such as ultralow detection, short assay time, high-throughput capability and low sample consumption. In this article, we have discussed the application of nanoproteomics for biomarker discovery in various diseases with special emphasis on various types of cancer. Furthermore, we have discussed the prospects, merits and limitations of nanoproteomics.