Aptamer/Peptide-Functionalized Nanoprobe for Detecting Multiple miRNAs in Circulating Malignant Cells to Study Tumor...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Molecular Oncology
• Cancer Diagnostics

Background:

• Accurate identification of diverse biomarkers in circulating malignant cells (CMCs) is vital for tumor diagnosis.
• Detecting multiple miRNA markers within living blood cells remains a significant challenge.
• Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating tumor endothelial cells (CTECs) are key CMCs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a nanoprobe for in situ detection of multiple miRNA biomarkers in living CMCs.
• To differentiate cancer metastasis stages based on intracellular biomarker levels.
• To enable noninvasive cancer diagnosis and prognosis through single-cell analysis.

Main Methods:

• Functionalization of a vector with aptamers and peptides to target CMCs.
• Delivery of molecular beacons into living CMCs for in situ biomarker detection.
• Quantification of miRNA-21 and miRNA-221 levels in CMCs from cancer patients.

Main Results:

• The aptamer/peptide-functionalized vector successfully delivered molecular beacons into targeted living CMCs.
• Distinct miRNA-21 and miRNA-221 expression profiles were observed between nondistant and distant metastatic cancer patients.
• Distant metastatic CMCs showed higher miR-221 levels compared to nondistant metastatic CMCs, while miR-21 levels were similar.

Conclusions:

• The developed nanoprobe enables precise, single-cell resolution probing of intracellular biomarkers in living CMCs.
• This technology can reveal tumor heterogeneity and provide valuable information for cancer diagnosis and prognosis.
• The nanoprobe represents a significant advancement toward noninvasive, precise cancer diagnosis.