In this review, we have summarised the biogenesis, biological significance, isolation and detection technologies of four widely known circulating biomarkers namely circulating tumour cells, circulating tumor specific DNA, microRNA, and exosomes.

This paper reports the development of a rapid, simple and inexpensive colorimetric paper-based assay for the detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Symptom Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) humanized antibody. The paper device...

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Gene mutation is associated with cancer and the dissemination of circulating biomarkers through the blood represents a vital transitional step that exemplifies the shift from localized to systemic disease. The...

Early sensitive diagnosis of cancer is critical for enhancing treatment success. We previously bioengineered multifunctional core–shell structures composed of a poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) core densely coated with protein functions for uses in bioseparation and immunodiagnostic applications. Here, we report bioengineering of Escherichia coli to self-assemble PHB inclusions that codisplay a ferritin-derived iron-binding peptide and the protein A-derived antibody-binding Z domain. The iron-binding peptide mediated surface coating with a ferrofluid imparting superparamagnetic properties, while the Z domain remained accessible for binding of cancer biomarker-specific antibodies. We demonstrated that these nanobeads can specifically bind biomarkers in complex mixtures, enabling efficient magnetic separation toward enhanced electrochemical detection of cancer biomarkers such as methylated DNA and exosomes from cancer cells. Our study revealed that superparamagnetic core–shell structures can be derived from biological self-assembly systems for uses in sensitive and specific electrochemical detection of cancer biomarkers, laying the foundation for engineering advanced nanomaterials for diverse diagnostic approaches.

Exosomes are vesicles released by healthy and cancer cells into the extracellular matrix and bodily fluid. Cancer cell-derived exosomes have received great attention within the fields of biology and medicine...

from circulating biomarkers (CBs). CBs may be found in several minimally invasive bodily fluids including (but not limited to) blood, saliva, urine, pleural effusions, stool, and cerebrospinal fluid. CBs may include circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating tumor RNA/DNA (ctRNA/ctDNA), microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), proteins, exosomes, autoantibodies, all of which, are known for their diagnostic and prognostic potential. [1] Currently, clinicians and centralized hospitals practice tissue biopsy for diagnosis and characterization of the heterogeneity of the solid tumor which is crucial for personalized medicine. [1a] Despite the many decades of clinical practice, tissue-based biopsies are subject to sampling bias, suffer from the issue of low repeatability, and cause immense pain in patients as the process is invasive. One of the major concerns of biopsies, often ignored, is the entrance of tumor cells into the systemic circulation during the tissue-sampling process, leading to tumor metastasis. [2] To overcome these issues, the detection of CBs through liquid biopsy has shown promise as a potential replacement due to the rapid and semi or non-invasive sampling process and the repeated analysis of samples during therapeutic interventions aid in decision-making about a particular patient's progress.Due to the advancement of highly specific sequencing and gene amplification technologies, liquid biopsies can access more relevant cancer biomarkers, providing a much-needed alternative to tissue-based biopsy. [1b] These recent advances have led to the development of many miniaturized/ portable platforms. The clinical potential of these micro and nano devices is rapidly growing, but they face many challenges before transitioning to point-of-care (POC) platforms that are sensitive, rapid, and accurate, as discussed herein.Previously, our group [3] provided a critical review of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and liquid biopsy opportunities, challenges, and recent advances in detection technologies. The review examines the potential of ctDNA as a marker in liquid biopsy, as well as the detection methods, challenges, and considerations. We further [1b] provided a comprehensive review of advanced liquid biopsy technologies for CBs detection. Others Liquid biopsy for the analysis of circulating cancer biomarkers (CBs) is a major advancement toward the early detection of cancer. In comparison to tissue biopsy techniques, liquid biopsy is relatively painless, offering multiple sampling opportunities across easily accessible bodily fluids such as blood, urine, and saliva. Liquid biopsy is also relatively inexpensive and simple, avoiding the requirement for specialized laboratory equipment or trained medical staff. Major advances in the field of liquid biopsy are attributed largely to developments in nanotechnology and microfabrication that enables the creation of highly precise chip-based platforms. These devices can overcome detection limitations of an individual biomarker by detecting multiple markers ...

This paper reports the design, development, and testing of a novel, yet simple and low-cost portable device for the rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2. The device performs loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and provides visually distinguishable images of the fluorescence emitted from the samples. The device utilises an aluminium block embedded with a cartridge heater for isothermal heating of the sample and a single-board computer and camera for fluorescence detection. The device demonstrates promising results within 20 min using clinically relevant starting concentrations of the synthetic template. Time-to-signal data for this device are considerably lower compared to standard quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction(qPCR) machine (~10–20 min vs. >38 min) for 1 × 102 starting template copy number. The device in its fully optimized and characterized state can potentially be used as simple to operate, rapid, sensitive, and inexpensive platform for population screening as well as point-of-need severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) detection and patient management.