Shape-encoded hydrogel particles enable multiplexed, colorimetric microRNA detection with a cell-phone by utilizing a reporter enzyme, which produces a chromogenic precipitate.
Extracellular vesicle‐derived microRNA (EV‐miRNA) represent a promising cancer biomarker for disease diagnosis and monitoring. However, existing techniques to detect EV‐miRNA rely on complex, bias‐prone strategies, and preprocessing steps, making absolute quantification highly challenging. This work demonstrates the development and application of a method for quantitative and multiplex detection of EV‐miRNA, via rolling circle amplification within encoded hydrogel particles. By a one‐pot extracellular vesicle lysis and microRNA capture step, the bias and losses associated with standard RNA extraction techniques is avoided. The system offers a large dynamic range (3 orders of magnitude), ease of multiplexing, and a limit of detection down to 2.3 zmol (46 × 10−18 m), demonstrating its utility in clinical applications based on liquid biopsy tests. Furthermore, orthogonal measurements of EV concentrations coupled with the direct, absolute quantification of miRNA in biological samples results in quantitative measurements of miRNA copy numbers per volume sample, and per extracellular vesicle.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.