Protein typing of circulating microvesicles allows real-time monitoring of glioblastoma therapy

H Shao, J Chung, L Balaj, A Charest, DD Bigner… - Nature medicine, 2012 - nature.com
H Shao, J Chung, L Balaj, A Charest, DD Bigner, BS Carter, FH Hochberg, XO Breakefield…
Nature medicine, 2012nature.com
Glioblastomas shed large quantities of small, membrane-bound microvesicles into the
circulation. Although these hold promise as potential biomarkers of therapeutic response,
their identification and quantification remain challenging. Here, we describe a highly
sensitive and rapid analytical technique for profiling circulating microvesicles directly from
blood samples of patients with glioblastoma. Microvesicles, introduced onto a dedicated
microfluidic chip, are labeled with target-specific magnetic nanoparticles and detected by a …
Abstract
Glioblastomas shed large quantities of small, membrane-bound microvesicles into the circulation. Although these hold promise as potential biomarkers of therapeutic response, their identification and quantification remain challenging. Here, we describe a highly sensitive and rapid analytical technique for profiling circulating microvesicles directly from blood samples of patients with glioblastoma. Microvesicles, introduced onto a dedicated microfluidic chip, are labeled with target-specific magnetic nanoparticles and detected by a miniaturized nuclear magnetic resonance system. Compared with current methods, this integrated system has a much higher detection sensitivity and can differentiate glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) microvesicles from nontumor host cell–derived microvesicles. We also show that circulating GBM microvesicles can be used to analyze primary tumor mutations and as a predictive metric of treatment-induced changes. This platform could provide both an early indicator of drug efficacy and a potential molecular stratifier for human clinical trials.
nature.com