Nanowire Brush Captures Extracellular Vesicles in Urine, May Help Screen for Cancer

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At Nagoya University in Japan, researchers have developed a nanowire-based device to extract large numbers of microRNA strands found in urine. The technology may provide a way to identify the presence of cancers and other diseases through easy to gather patient samples.
Over the past few years, researchers have been focusing on how cells within our bodies release a variety of extracellular vesicles such as exosomes. These can carry bits of molecular cargo, including genetic messages such as microRNA. Tumor cells are known to release extracellular vesicles that can be used as biomarkers to spot the presence of tumors, but gathering these tiny particles has been a challenge.
The Nagoya University team’s new device works a bit like a Velcro brush that grabs onto the vesicles from a liquid sample. The hairs of the brush are made of zinc oxide nanowires and they are attached to a polymer substrate. The nanowires employ static electricity to attract and trap extracellular vesicles, which can then be gathered and their insides analyzed.

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