Exosomes are secreted by most cell types and circulate in body fluids. Recent studies have revealed that exosomes play a significant role in intercellular communication and are closely associated with the pathogenesis of disease. Therefore, exosomes are considered promising biomarkers for disease diagnosis. However, exosomes are always mixed with other components of body fluids. Consequently, separation methods for exosomes that allow high‐purity and high‐throughput separation with a high recovery rate and detection techniques for exosomes that are rapid, highly sensitive, highly specific, and have a low detection limit are indispensable for diagnostic applications. For decades, many exosome separation and detection techniques have been developed to achieve the aforementioned goals. However, in most cases, these two techniques are performed separately, which increases operation complexity, time consumption, and cost. The emergence of microfluidics offers a promising way to integrate exosome separation and detection functions into a single chip. Herein, an overview of conventional and microfluidics‐based techniques for exosome separation and detection is presented. Moreover, the advantages and drawbacks of these techniques are compared.

Flexible and conductive hydrogel sensors have great potential for applications in wearable and implantable devices, electronic skin and healthcare diagnosis. However, it remains a great challenge to develop an integrated...

Simple sealing methods for poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)/glass-based capillary electrophoresis (CE) microchips by UV irradiation are described. Further, we examined the possibility to modify the inner surface of separation channels, using polymethylacrylamide (PDMA) as a dynamic coating reagent. The surface properties of native PDMS, UV-irradiated PDMS, and PDMA-coated PDMS were systematically studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM), infrared absorption by attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy, and contact angle measurement. We found that PDMA forms a stable coating on PDMS and glass surfaces, eliminating the nonhomogeneous electroosmotic flow (EOF) in channels on PDMS/glass microchips, and improving the hydrophilicity of PDMS surfaces. Mixtures of flavin mononucleotide (FMN), flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), and fluorescein were separated in 35 s using PDMA-coated PDMS/glass microchips. A high efficiency of theoretical plates with at least 1365 (105 000 N/m) and a good reproducibility with relative standard deviations (RSD) below 4% in five successive separations were achieved.

A chemiresistive gas sensor based on a three-dimensional Ag-modified reduced graphene oxide (3D Ag-rGO) aerogel is reported. We improve the graphene-based sensor performance by optimization of operating temperature, chemical modification, and new design of the material geometrical structure. The self-assembly and Ag nanoparticle (NP) decoration of the Ag-rGO aerogel are realized by a facile, one-step hydrothermal method. An integrated low-power microheater fabricated on a micromachined SiO2 membrane is employed to enhance the performance of the sensor with a fast response to NO2 and a shortened recovery time. The 3D Ag-rGO-based sensor at a temperature of 133 °C exhibits the highest response. At the same time, the response to other gases is suppressed while the response of the Ag-rGO sensor toward ammonia at 133 °C is reduced to half of the value at room temperature, demonstrating a greatly improved selectivity toward NO2. Additionally, the sensor exhibits a remarkably fast response to 50 ppb NO2 and a low limit of detection of 6.9 ppb.

No abstract

No abstract

Purpose Increasing evidence has demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) are closely related to the occurrence and development of tumors. MiR-216a-5p, located at 2p16.1, has been shown to suppress proliferation of cancerous cells. However, its expression and function in colorectal cancer (CRC) remain unclear. Materials and methods The significance of miR-216a-5p in CRC was studied by analyzing miR-216a-5p expression in CRC tissues and its association with clinicopathological parameters. CRC cells, stably overexpressing miR-216a-5p, were evaluated for cell proliferation and metastasis using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and transwell assay methods. Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) pathway was analyzed by Western blotting. Bioinformatics, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and luciferase reporter assay were performed to define the regulation of PVT1/miR-216a-5p/Y Box Binding Protein 1 (YBX1) axis in CRC. Results The expression of miR-216a-5p was found to be significantly downregulated in CRC and was correlated with the various stages and differentiation degree of the tumors. Moreover, the overexpression of miR-216a-5p could significantly inhibit the tumor growth, metastasis, and EMT progression in CRC. Furthermore, the expression of miR-216a-5p was negatively correlated with the expression of PVT1, and PVT1 could reverse tumor suppressive effect of miR-216a-5p in CRC cells. Finally, YBX1 might be the key target of PVT1/miR-216a-5p axis in CRC. Conclusion Downregulation of miR-216a-5p by PVT1 could suppress CRC progression via modulating YBX1 expression.

No abstract