Hydrogel Particle-Based microRNA Profiling for Discovery and Cancer Diagnostics

描述(申请人提供)：microRNA靶标在理解、诊断甚至治疗世界上最常见的疾病方面显示出巨大的潜力，包括癌症、心脏病、阿尔茨海默氏症、糖尿病等。不幸的是，miRNAs由于其小的尺寸、序列的同源性和广泛的丰度而特别难以量化。因此，使用当今最先进的技术，miRNA图谱要么昂贵，要么产量低。为了克服这些限制，基于编码的水凝胶微粒和定制的microRNA标记方案的新的多路复用技术将被放大、自动化和验证。该项目可能会对癌症研究、药物发现和癌症诊断产生影响。 与公共卫生相关：该项目的目标是开发一种能够以准确、快速和廉价的方式分析所有人类microRNA的技术。这一工具将使癌症研究、药物发现和癌症诊断成为可能。

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 and a custom microRNA labeling scheme will be scaled up, automated, and validated. 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.