Kim Sujin, Kim Seonyeop, Ko Chanjin, Lee Wonseok, Kim Hwan Drew
Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Korea National University of Transportation, 50 Daehak-ro, Chungju, 27469, Republic of Korea.
Department of IT-Energy Convergence (BK21 Four), Chemical Industry Institute, Korea National University of Transportation, 50 Daehak-ro, Chungju, 27469, Republic of Korea.
Mater Today Bio. 2025 Apr 12;32:101768. doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2025.101768. eCollection 2025 Jun.
Microfluidic chip-based electrochemical sensors have been developed to detect cancer biomarkers and monitor changes in the tumor microenvironment. However, the limitation of detecting only a single biomarker restricts their utility as accurate diagnostic tools. Simultaneous detection of multiple tumor biomarkers is important for early diagnosis of cancer. In this work, we report the development of a microfluidic-based electrochemical immunosensor platform capable of simultaneously observing multiple biomarkers expressed by three dimensions (3D) cell spheroids. The sensor platform employs a nanocomposite electrode material consisting of gold nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes, which enables sensitive and selective detection. The sensor was fabricated using 3D and printed circuit boards (PCB) printing techniques, demonstrating the feasibility of cost-effective manufacturing. The developed platform was able to quantitatively detect two key cancer biomarkers, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and Ki67, with limits of detection of 0.97 ng/mL for each. Furthermore, the sensor was successfully utilized to observe the knockdown of these biomarkers, showcasing its potential for both diagnostic and therapeutic monitoring applications. These results suggest that the presented electrochemical sensor platform provides a promising lab-on-a-chip technology for comprehensive 3D cell spheroid-based cancer biomarker analysis, which could have significant implications for future clinical diagnostics and personalized medicine.
基于微流控芯片的电化学传感器已被开发用于检测癌症生物标志物并监测肿瘤微环境的变化。然而，仅检测单一生物标志物的局限性限制了它们作为准确诊断工具的效用。同时检测多种肿瘤生物标志物对癌症的早期诊断很重要。在这项工作中，我们报告了一种基于微流控的电化学免疫传感器平台的开发，该平台能够同时观察三维（3D）细胞球体表达的多种生物标志物。该传感器平台采用由金纳米颗粒和碳纳米管组成的纳米复合电极材料，能够实现灵敏且选择性的检测。该传感器使用3D和印刷电路板（PCB）印刷技术制造，证明了具有成本效益制造的可行性。所开发的平台能够定量检测两种关键的癌症生物标志物，癌胚抗原（CEA）和Ki67，每种的检测限为0.97 ng/mL。此外，该传感器成功用于观察这些生物标志物的敲低，展示了其在诊断和治疗监测应用中的潜力。这些结果表明，所提出的电化学传感器平台为基于3D细胞球体的全面癌症生物标志物分析提供了一种有前景的芯片实验室技术，这可能对未来的临床诊断和个性化医疗产生重大影响。
