2 research outputs found
Scanometric MicroRNA Array Profiling of Prostate Cancer Markers Using Spherical Nucleic AcidāGold Nanoparticle Conjugates
We report the development of a novel Scanometric MicroRNA
(Scano-miR)
platform for the detection of relatively low abundance miRNAs with
high specificity and reproducibility. The Scano-miR system was able
to detect 1 fM concentrations of miRNA in serum with single nucleotide
mismatch specificity. Indeed, it provides increased sensitivity for
miRNA targets compared to molecular fluorophore-based detection systems,
where 88% of the low abundance miRNA targets could not be detected
under identical conditions. The application of the Scano-miR platform
to high density array formats demonstrates its utility for high throughput
and multiplexed miRNA profiling from various biological samples. To
assess the accuracy of the Scano-miR system, we analyzed the miRNA
profiles of samples from men with prostate cancer (CaP), the most
common noncutaneous malignancy and the second leading cause of cancer
death among American men. The platform exhibits 98.8% accuracy when
detecting deregulated miRNAs involved in CaP, which demonstrates its
potential utility in profiling and identifying clinical and research
biomarkers
Near-Infrared-Induced Heating of Confined Water in Polymeric Particles for Efficient Payload Release
Near-infrared (NIR) light-triggered release from polymeric capsules could make a major impact on biological research by enabling remote and spatioĀtemporal control over the release of encapsulated cargo. The few existing mechanisms for NIR-triggered release have not been widely applied because they require custom synthesis of designer polymers, high-powered lasers to drive inefficient two-photon processes, and/or coencapsulation of bulky inorganic particles. In search of a simpler mechanism, we found that exposure to laser light resonant with the vibrational absorption of water (980 nm) in the NIR region can induce release of payloads encapsulated in particles made from inherently non-photo-responsive polymers. We hypothesize that confined water pockets present in hydrated polymer particles absorb electromagnetic energy and transfer it to the polymer matrix, inducing a thermal phase change. In this study, we show that this simple and highly universal strategy enables instantaneous and controlled release of payloads in aqueous environments as well as in living cells using both pulsed and continuous wavelength lasers without significant heating of the surrounding aqueous solution