Multiplex electrochemical profiling of Extracellular vesicles for early cancer diagnosis

循环生物标志物提供了人体内生物过程的有用指标，并且其在生物流体中的浓度已用于临床风险评估、诊断、预后和治疗结果的监测。循环生物标志物的异常浓度与健康状况有关。电化学检测是检测生物体液中循环生物标志物水平的一种有前途的工具。此外，电化学传感器能够高通量和快速分析体液中的此类生物标志物以用于诊断和治疗应用。早期诊断的关键挑战是在小样本体积中快速检测低浓度的循环生物标志物，通常是在具有大背景噪声的复杂混合物中。此外，疾病（如炎症性疾病，痴呆或癌症）的复杂性增加需要多重传感-同时检测一组生物标志物以进行精确诊断。该项目旨在开发基于石墨烯的超灵敏免疫测定，用于早期癌症诊断的细胞外囊泡的多重检测。具体而言，基于石墨烯的电化学生物传感器由于其高灵敏度和选择性、可固化性和大规模制造的适应性而有希望。学生将研究（a）多重石墨烯传感器的设计;（B）优化表面化学，以成功地与抗体进行生物功能化，（c）开发电化学传感器测定法，用于精确检测肿瘤衍生的细胞外囊泡表面蛋白，以及（d）展示临床验证的多种与癌症相关的生物标志物的实时检测。

Circulating biomarkers provide useful indicators of biological processes in the human body, and their concentrations in biofluids have been used for clinical risk assessment, diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of therapeutic outcomes. Abnormal concentrations of circulating biomarkers are associated with health conditions. Electrochemical detection is a promising tool to detect the levels of circulating biomarkers in biofluids. Additionally, electrochemical sensors enable high throughput and rapid analysis of such biomarkers in bodily fluids for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. The key challenge for early diagnostics is for the rapid detection of low concentrations of circulating biomarkers in small sample volumes, typically in a complex mixture with large background noise. Moreover, the increased complexity of diseases (such as inflammatory diseases, dementia or cancer) demands the multiplex sensing - the simultaneous detection of a panel of biomarkers for precise diagnosis. This project aims to develop ultrasensitive graphene-based immunoassays for the multiplex detection of extracellular vesicles for early cancer diagnostics. Specifically, the graphene based electrochemical biosensors are promising due to its high sensitivity and selectivity, miniaturisation possibility and adaptability for large scale manufacturing. The student will investigate (a) designing of multiplex graphene sensors; (b) optimisation the surface chemistries for successful bio-functionalisation with the antibodies, (c) develop electrochemical sensor assays for the precise detection of tumour derived extracellular vesicle surface proteins and (d) demonstrate real-time detection of clinically validated multiple biomarkers relevant to cancer.