▶ Date: 2023. 12. 14(THU)

▶ Time: 4:30 ~ 5:30PM

▶ Venue: Research Building I, #310

▶ Speaker: Prof. Jiyoon Bu(Inha University)

▶ Title: Integration of Microfluidics and Nanotechnology for the Effective Isolation of Biomolecules

▶ Abstract:

Liquid biopsies have brought about a significant revolution in the field of clinical oncology, providing a minimally invasive method for monitoring the evolution of tumors over time. However, progress has been hindered by challenges in capturing tumor biomarkers, resulting in limited success in translating results from preclinical trials to human blood samples. This presentation outlines the effective development of a system that achieves highly sensitive capture of tumor biomarkers, such as circulating tumor cells and exosomes, through a combination of dendrimer-mediated multivalent binding, biomimetic cell rolling, and microfluidics utilization. Nano-engineered dendrimers with densely functionalized antibodies lower the kinetic off-rate towards the target molecules, thereby increasing the sensitivity of cell capture. Additionally, the use of a diverse ligand cocktail outperforms the traditional single antibody-based approach by actively targeting multiple tumor-associated molecules. The incorporation of selectin-induced cell rolling further enhances cancer cell detection by reducing cell velocity within microfluidic channels. Consequently, the integration of these strategies enables the detection of tumor biomarkers in patient samples with greater sensitivity and specificity compared to conventional methods. These findings highlight the potential to eventually facilitate personalized medicine through the application of liquid biopsy assays.