I-Corps: A bisulfite-free method of quantifying the methylation patterns for detecting cancer recurrence in blood

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发和验证一种微创血液测试，这种测试可以帮助评估癌症患者的反应，比目前的护理标准（如计算机断层扫描（CT）扫描和抗原检测）更早，更准确。当前工具的结果通常会让患者和医生等待很长时间，并可能导致无效的治疗和下游诊断随访。该技术提供了对患者如何反应的实时见解，从而为临床决策提供信息并改善患者的治疗效果。目前美国有1600万癌症幸存者，复发的不确定性给患者和护理人员带来了巨大的痛苦。该技术针对从结直肠癌到胶质母细胞瘤，从乳腺癌到肺癌的癌症类型。该I-Corps项目开发了检测和量化患者血液中甲基化和结构模式的新方法。目前用于检测甲基化的方法涉及苛刻的化学修饰，其降解了近90%的DNA并限制了整体准确性。这里使用的方法已经证明了使用无亚硫酸氢盐的方法来检测和量化甲基化模式的初步成功。该工作流程包括使用新型甲基化敏感融合蛋白和纳米材料平台来放大信号。这项技术有可能在患者护理过程中的多个时间点检测甲基化信号，并产生重大的临床影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is in the development and validation of a minimally invasive blood test that can help assess cancer patients' response earlier and more accurately than current standards of care such as computerized tomography (CT) scans and antigen testing. The results from current tools often leave patients and physicians waiting for extended periods and can lead to ineffective therapies and downstream diagnostic follow-ups. This technology provides real-time insights into how a patient is responding, thus informing clinical decision-making and improving patient outcomes. There are currently 16 million cancer survivors in the US, and the uncertainty of relapse causes significant anguish for patients and caregivers alike. This technology addresses cancer types ranging from colorectal cancer to glioblastoma, and from breast cancer to lung cancer.This I-Corps project develops novel methods for detecting and quantifying methylation, structural patterns in patients' blood. Current approaches for detecting methylation involve a harsh chemical modification that degrades almost 90% of the DNA and limits the overall accuracy. The approach used here has demonstrated initial success with the use of bisulfite-free approaches to detect and quantify methylation patterns. This workflow includes the use of a novel methylation-sensitive fusion protein and a nanomaterial platform to amplify the signal. The proposed technology has the potential to detect methylation signals at multiple timepoints within the patient care journey and to create significant clinical impact.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.