Near-infrared afterglow semiconducting nano-polycomplexes for multiplex differentiation of cancer exosomes

The detection of exosomes is promising for the early diagnosis of cancer. However, the development of suitable optical sensors remains challenging. We have developed the first luminescent nanosensor for the multiplex differentiation of cancer exosomes that bypasses real‐time light excitation. The se...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lyu, Yan, Cui, Dong, Huang, Jiaguo, Fan, Wenxuan, Miao, Yansong, Pu, Kanyi
Other Authors: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/82615
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/49417
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
Description
Summary:The detection of exosomes is promising for the early diagnosis of cancer. However, the development of suitable optical sensors remains challenging. We have developed the first luminescent nanosensor for the multiplex differentiation of cancer exosomes that bypasses real‐time light excitation. The sensor is composed of a near‐infrared semiconducting polyelectrolyte (ASPN) that forms a complex with a quencher‐tagged aptamer. The afterglow signal of the nanocomplex (ASPNC), being initially quenched, is turned on in the presence of aptamer‐targeted exosomes. Because detection of the afterglow takes place after the excitation, background signals are minimized, leading to an improved limit of detection that is nearly two orders of magnitude lower than that of fluorescence detection in cell culture media. Also, ASPNC can be easily tailored to detect different exosomal proteins by changing the aptamer sequence. This enables an orthogonal analysis of multiple exosome samples, potentially permitting an accurate identification of the cellular origin of exosomes for cancer diagnosis.