Isolation of exosomes from whole blood by a new microfluidic device: proof of concept application in the diagnosis and monitoring of pancreatic cancer

Abstract

Background Exosomes are endocytic-extracellular vesicles with a diameter around 100 nm that play an essential role on the communication between cells. In fact, they have been proposed as candidates for the diagnosis and the monitoring of different pathologies (such as Parkinson, Alzheimer, diabetes, cardiac damage, infection diseases or cancer). Results In this study, magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4NPs) were successfully functionalized with an exosome-binding antibody (anti-CD9) to mediate the magnetic capture in a microdevice. This was carried out under flow in a 1.6 mm (outer diameter) microchannel whose wall was in contact with a set of NdFeB permanent magnets, giving a high magnetic field across the channel diameter that allowed exosome separation with a high yield. To show the usefulness of the method, the direct capture of exosomes from whole blood of patients with pancreatic cancer (PC) was performed, as a proof of concept. The captured exosomes were then subjected to analysis of CA19-9, a protein often used to monitor PC patients. Conclusions Here, we describe a new microfluidic device and the procedure for the isolation of exosomes from whole blood, without any need of previous isolation steps, thereby facilitating translation to the clinic. The results show that, for the cases analyzed, the evaluation of CA19-9 in exosomes was highly sensitive, compared to serum samples.

Exosomes for mRNA delivery: a novel biotherapeutic strategy with hurdles and hope

“…These methods include ultracentrifugation, ultrafiltration, size exclusion chromatography (SEC), precipitation with polymers, and separation by affinity-based methods [47,78,79]. Recently, the devices based on microfluidic technology indicate promising advances for isolation and analysis of exosomes [80][81][82]. Therefore, look at the pros and cons of each method to find the qualified method of exosome purification is essential.…”

Therapeutic Application of Exosomes in Inflammatory Diseases

“…Exosomes extracted from milk are absorbed in the human gastrointestinal tract in an intact form, can be delivered orally, and are expected to be used as a drug delivery system for the treatment of various diseases through the advantage of effectively delivering chemotherapy agents [ 48 , 49 ]. Blood exosomes are used as biomarkers to diagnose diseases or to monitor progression or treatment efficacy [ 50 , 51 ]. Urine exosomes can be used as a biomarker to identify the kidney and genitourinary tract, and when injected, urinary exosomes migrate to the kidney.…”

SUFU reduced pancreatic cancer cell growth by Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway

“…Epidemiological data in 2016 showed that there were 53,070 new cases of pancreatic cancer in the United States, ranking the fourth place in the mortality of malignant tumors. In addition, the incidence rate of pancreatic cancer is increasing year by year (Sancho-Albero et al, 2020;Jiang et al, 2021). Pancreatic cancer is highly of malignant, with extremely poor prognosis (5-year survival rate less than 5%) (Goral, 2015;Heinrich & Lang, 2017).…”