Just 25 minutes! Chinese scholars bring new breakthroughs in exosome extraction
Release date: 2017-09-22
Recently, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Duke University published an article in PNAS, which developed a new device that uses sonic technology to quickly separate exosomes from blood samples. (exosome). In the era of precision medicine, this technology may play an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in the future.
Exosomes contain many molecules that play an important role in the diagnosis of disease (Source: The Journal of Cell Biology)
Exosomes are small nano-sized vesicles secreted by cells, about 30 to 150 nanometers in diameter. They carry important information, including proteins, miRNAs, etc., to help cells communicate. Previous studies have shown that exosome contents can serve as markers for diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and kidney diseases. Although it is very important for disease diagnosis, existing exosomes separation methods require high speed centrifugation. It takes a large machine and takes nearly 24 hours to get it, which is very inconvenient. High centrifugal forces can also destroy vesicles. Reduce the quality of the sample.
This research is expected to solve this problem. In the paper, the researchers provided a novel method for capturing exosomes from body fluid samples through a unique combination of microfluidics and acoustics. The exosomes isolated by this method do not substantially alter their biological or physical characteristics, providing an attractive new method for developing human health and disease diagnosis and progression.
The original acoustic sorting device they developed consisted of two tilted acoustic transducers and a microfluidic channel. When the sound waves generated by these sensors collide with each other, they form a standing wave that produces a series of pressure nodes. It was originally used to sort cells - whenever a cell or particle flows through a channel and encounters a node, the pressure will direct the cell away from the center a little. The distance the cells move depends on size and other properties (such as compressibility) so that cells of different sizes and properties can be separated when they reach the end of the channel.
Exososis separation using ultrasound (Source: Duke University)
To isolate exosomes, the researchers constructed a device in series with two such units. First, sound waves are used to remove cells and platelets from blood samples. Once the cells and platelets are removed, the sample enters a second microfluidic unit and the exosomes are separated from the slightly larger extracellular vesicles using higher frequency sonic waves.
Dr. Ming Dao, one of the heads of the study (Source: MIT)
One of the co-authors of the work, Dr. Ming Dao, a scientist at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said: "Sonic waves are milder. And when separated, these vesicles are treated for only one second or less. It is a big advantage.†With this device, it takes less than 25 minutes to process 100 microliters of undiluted blood sample.
The researchers say the new technology adds a new dimension to the study of "liquid biopsy" and promotes the clinical application of extracellular vesicles to understand the physiology and health of difficult-to-access organs such as the placenta during human pregnancy. "This new technology can solve the shortcomings of current exosomes separation technology, such as long cycle, poor consistency, low yield, pollution and integrity damage. We want to simplify the process of extracting high quality exosomes into A button is as simple as getting the sample you need in 10 minutes,†the researchers said.
Exosome research is a hotspot in many biomedical fields. This technology provides us with another means of understanding diseases and will make future precision medicine more convenient.
Reference material
[1] Blood testing via sound waves may replace some tissue biopsies
[2] Isolation of exosomes from whole blood by integrating acoustics and microfluidics (PNAS)
Source: WuXi PharmaTech (Wei Signal WuXiAppTecChina)
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