July 3, 2006 Multiple Cancer Biomarkers Detected Simultaneously
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology revolutionized
diagnostic medicine and basic research through its ability to
amplify and detect minute amounts of specific DNA sequences.
Now, using oligonucleotide- and antibody-coated gold
nanoparticles, researchers at the Nanomaterials for Cancer
Diagnostics and Therapeutics Center for Cancer Nanotechnology
Excellence (CCNE) at Northwestern University have developed an
analogous technology for proteins that can simultaneously detect
trace levels of multiple biomarkers associated with human cancer
(click here to see earlier story). Reporting its work in the
Journal of the American Chemical Society, a team led by Chad
Mirkin, Ph.D., principal investigator of the Northwestern CCNE,
describes its development of nanoparticle-based biobarcodes that
can detect three different protein tumor markers: prostate
specific antigen (PSA); human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG), a
marker for testicular cancer; and α-fet