Looking for cancer biomarkers in blood is a promising method for detecting metastatic cancer. It is less demanding than imaging techniques like MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). The main challenge to overcome is the extremely low concentrations of these markers making it difficult to detect them. Researchers of the University of Twente and Wageningen University developed a nanosensor able to accurately detect biomarkers for cancer in an extremely broad range of concentrations: from 10 particles per microliter to a million particles per microliter. With their nanosensor, the researchers made it to the cover of Nano Letters, a journal of the American Chemical Society.
Tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (tdEVs) are attracting much attention due to their potential as cancer biomarkers. Although tdEVs are significantly more abundant in blood than other cancer biomarkers, their concentration compared to other blood components remains relatively low. The presence of particles in blood with a similar size as that of tdEVs asks not only for a sensitive but also a selective sensor.
Two nanoscale combs
On the nanoscale, the sensor looks like two ‘combs’ woven into each other, that leaves gaps between the ‘teeth’ – the electrodes – of around 120 nanometers. This small gap size provides amplification of the signal. The sensor has two levels of selection and two levels of amplification. This gives it the selectivity and sensitivity to accurately detect particles at low concentration. “The most unique feature of this sensor is that its sensitivity spans over six orders of magnitude. In contrast to other sensors, it covers most of the clinically relevant range for tdEV detection in blood”, says Dilu Mathew, one of the researchers at NanoElectronics group at University of Twente.
Future work
Mathew, winner of the Metrohm Young Chemist Award 2018, is currently working on a new sensor. He says: “The goal is to make a sensor that is able to detect a single tdEV in small amount of blood.” His colleague Pepijn Beekman adds: “In the lab we’ve already shown that we can detect individual nanoparticles.”
Dilu and Pepijn are working on their start-up ECsens, which was announced winner in the prototype category of the UT Entrepreneurial Challenge 2019 and winner of the 4TU Impact Challenge. ECsens will join the ministry of Foreign Affairs on a trade mission to the World Expo in Dubai next year. They were also announced winner of the UT in the Media Prize for PhD-students.
About the article
The article ‘Electrochemical Detection of Tumor-Derived Extracellular Vesicles on Nanointerdigitated Electrodes’, by Dilu Mathew, Pepijn Beekman, Serge Lemay, Han Zuilhof (WUR), Séverine Le Gac, and Wilfred G. van der Wiel appeared in Nano Letters and their story made it to the cover of February issue of the journal. The research was done in the NanoElectronics group of the MESA+ institute of the University of Twente in collaboration with the University of Wageningen.