A Highly Sensitive Urinary Exosomal miRNAs Biosensor Applied to Evaluation of Prostate Cancer Progression

Abstract

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in the male population, carrying a significant disease burden. PSA is a widely available screening tools for this disease. Current screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE)-based biosensors use a two-pronged probe approach to capture urinary miRNA. We were able to successfully detect specific exosomal miRNAs (exomiRs) in the urine of patients with prostate cancer, including exomiR-451 and exomiR-21, and used electrochemistry for measurement and analysis. Our results significantly reaffirmed the presence of exomiR-451 in urine and that a CV value higher than 220 nA is capable of identifying the presence of disease (p-value = 0.005). Similar results were further proven by a PAS greater than 4 (p-value = 0.001). Moreover, a higher urinary exomiR-21 was observed in the high-T3b stage; this significantly decreased following tumor removal (p-values were 0.016 and 0.907, respectively). According to analysis of the correlation with tumor metastasis, a higher exomiR-21 was associated with lymphatic metastasis (p-value 0.042), and higher exomiR-461 expression was correlated with tumor stage (p-value 0.031), demonstrating that the present exomiR biosensor can usefully predict tumor progression. In conclusion, this biosensor represents an easy-to-use, non-invasive screening tool that is both sensitive and specific. We strongly believe that this can be used in conjunction with PSA for the screening of prostate cancer.

Women in Biosensors Science

“…Turning to the biosensors themselves, Chiou et al present an important work where they develop an electrochemical biosensor for the detection of specific exosomal miRNAs (exomiR) in the urine of prostate cancer patients [7]. The exomiR biosensor developed allows for the prediction of tumor progression since, according to the exosomes detected and their levels, it is possible to know the stage of the tumor, whether there is lymphatic metastasis, or whether the tumor was adequately removed.…”