Researchers have developed nanoscale agents that allow the diagnosis of noncommunicable diseases—such as colorectal cancer—through a simple urine paper-test. The method is based on the principle of detecting disease-specific biomarkers with engineered exogenous molecules. The authors injected synthetic protease-sensitive nanoparticles into the blood stream of mice; once the nano-agent passively reached the disease site, it was cleaved by MMP9, a matrix metalloproteinase that is specifically deregulated in colorectal cancer, releasing a reporter that was eliminated in the urine. As more than 500 proteases can be deregulated in cancer, this approach could be tailored for many other types of tumours.
References
Warren, A. D. et al. Point-of-care diagnostics for noncommunicable diseases using synthetic urinary biomarkers and paper microfluidics. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 10.1073/pnas.1314651111
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Peeing on a stick. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 11, 240 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2014.53
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2014.53