Microfluidic platforms for rapid screening of cancer affinity reagents by using tissue samples

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Molecular Biology
• Oncology

Background:

• Ovarian cancer (OvCa) is a leading cause of cancer death, necessitating early detection methods.
• Current methods for identifying diagnostic biomarkers, such as Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX) and phage display, are time-consuming and labor-intensive.
• There is a critical need for efficient and accessible tools to discover novel affinity reagents for OvCa detection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel, integrated microfluidic system for automating SELEX and phage display.
• To utilize tissue slides as screening targets for identifying OvCa-specific affinity reagents, moving beyond traditional cell lines.
• To enable the rapid discovery of aptamer and peptide probes for ovarian cancer diagnostics and therapeutics.

Main Methods:

• Development of an automated microfluidic platform integrating SELEX and phage display workflows.
• Utilized patient-derived tissue slides as complex biological targets for affinity selection.
• Characterization of identified aptamer and peptide probes for specificity against OvCa cells and tissues.

Main Results:

• Successfully automated the SELEX and phage display processes using the microfluidic system.
• Identified novel aptamer (nucleic acid) and peptide probes with high specificity for ovarian cancer cells and tissues.
• Demonstrated the system's capability to use tissue slides, offering richer target information than cell lines.

Conclusions:

• The developed microfluidic system offers an efficient and automated approach for discovering affinity reagents for ovarian cancer.
• Using tissue slides as targets provides a more biologically relevant platform for identifying diagnostic and therapeutic candidates.
• This technology has the potential for broad application in cancer diagnostics and targeted therapy development for various cancer types.