Increasing access to modern clinical practices concomitantly extends lifespan, ironically revealing new classes of degenerative and inflammatory diseases of later years. Here, an electronic graphene field‐effect transistor (gFET) is reported, termed EV‐chip, for label‐free, rapid identification and quantification of exosomes (EV) associated with aging through specific surface markers, CD63 and CD151. Studies suggest that blood‐derived exosomes carry specific biomolecules that can be used toward diagnostic applications of age and health. However, to observe improvements in patient outcomes, earlier detection at the point‐of‐care (POC) is required. Unfortunately, conventional techniques and other electronic‐based platforms for exosome sensing are burdensome and inept for the POC distinction of aged blood factors. It is shown that EV‐chip can quantitatively detect purified exosomes from plasma, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 2 × 104 particles mL−1 and a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 6 × 104 particles mL−1. The sensitivity and compact electronics of the EV‐chip improves upon previously published electronic biosensors, making it ideal for a physician's office or a simple biological laboratory. The sensitivity, selectivity, and portability of the EV‐chip demonstrate the potential of the biosensor as a powerful point‐of‐care diagnostic and prognostic tool for age‐related diseases.
As the fields of aging and neurological disease expand to liquid biopsies, there is a need to identify informative biomarkers for the diagnosis of neurodegeneration and other age-related disorders such as cancers. A means of high-throughput screening of biomolecules relevant to aging can facilitate this discovery in complex biofluids, such as blood. Exosomes, the smallest of extracellular vesicles, are found in many biofluids and, in recent years, have been found to be excellent candidates as liquid biopsy biomarkers due to their participation in intercellular communication and various pathologies such as cancer metastasis. Recently, exosomes have emerged as novel biomarkers for age-related diseases. Hence, the study of exosomes, their protein and genetic cargo can serve as early biomarkers for age-associated pathologies, especially neurodegenerative diseases. However, a disadvantage of exosome studies includes a lack in standardization of isolating, detecting, and profiling exosomes for downstream analysis. In this review, we will address current techniques for high-throughput isolation and detection of exosomes through various microfluidic and biosensing strategies and how they may be adapted for the detection of biomarkers of age-associated disorders.
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