Hydrogel Particle-Based microRNA Profiling for Discovery and Cancer Diagnostics

描述（由申请人提供）：MicroRNA靶标已经显示出理解、诊断甚至治疗世界上最流行的疾病（包括癌症、心脏病、阿尔茨海默病、糖尿病等等）的巨大潜力。不幸的是，由于它们的小尺寸、序列同源性和广泛的丰度，miRNA的定量特别具有挑战性。因此，使用当今最先进的技术，miRNA谱分析要么是昂贵的，要么是低通量的。为了克服这些限制，将开发一种基于编码水凝胶微粒的新的多重技术用于miRNA分析。初步结果表明，该技术将提供高灵敏度，单核苷酸特异性和快速分析。该项目第一阶段的具体目标是（1）开发和评估用于高性能检测的靶点标记方案，（2）对不同的靶点进行多重miRNA分析，（3）展示用于人类来源样本中癌症检测的预测表达谱。该项目可能对癌症研究、药物发现和癌症诊断产生影响。 公共卫生相关性：该项目的目的是开发一种能够以准确，快速和廉价的方式对所有人类microRNA进行分析的技术。该工具将用于癌症研究，药物发现和癌症诊断。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): MicroRNA targets have shown enormous potential for understanding, diagnosing, and even treating the world's most prevalent diseases including cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's, diabetes and many more. Unfortunately, miRNAs are particularly challenging to quantify due to their small size, sequence homology, and wide range of abundance. As such, miRNA profiling is either expensive or low-throughput using today's state-of-the art technologies. To overcome these limitations, a new multiplexing technology built on encoded hydrogel microparticles will be developed for miRNA profiling. Preliminary results suggest that this technology will provide high sensitivity, single-nucleotide specificity, and rapid analysis. The specific aims for Phase I of this project are to (1) develop and assess target labeling schemes for high-performance detection, (2) perform multiplexed miRNA profiling over a diverse set of targets, and (3) demonstrate predictive expression profiling for cancer detection in human-derived samples. This project could have implications in cancer research, drug discovery, and cancer diagnostics. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The aim of this project is to develop a technology capable of profiling across all human microRNA in a manner that is accurate, rapid, and inexpensive. This tool will be enabling for cancer research, drug discovery, and cancer diagnostics.