Decoding the epigenome for cancer diagnosis with advanced label-free nanodevices

Resumen del póster presentado al 3rd Synthetic Biology Congress, celebrado en Londres (UK) del 20 al 21 de octubre de 2016.Tumor cells not only appear due to genetic and epigenetic alterations, but they also routinely employ epigenetic mechanisms in favor to their outliving and proliferation over normal cells, escaping from chemotherapy and host immune surveillance. Having more effective diagnostic solutions to unravel these epigenetic mechanisms in cancer is of paramount importance for the design of personalized therapies. Nanophotonic biosensors have profiled themselves as robust and efficient analytical tools offering fast, simple and ultra-sensitive detection of disease-related biomarkers. We present here brand-new nanobiosensor methodologies for the simultaneous monitoring of relevant epigenetic mechanisms such as the RNA alternative splicing, the aberrant expression of microRNAs or the methylation status of DNA. Our innovative biosensor platform permits the analysis of such routes by offering simple, label-free and highly sensitive detection in a few minutes and with minimal sample treatment. Our methodologies resolve the main problems encountered in the standard analysis of these epigenetic processes, demonstrating an excellent selectivity for the direct detection of the different mRNA splicing isoforms or micro-RNAs without pre-amplification steps and achieving limits of detection as sensitive as 23 attomolar. In addition, we have developed a methodology for the capture of double-stranded DNA fragments, which facilitates the direct analysis of the methylation status from concrete gene fragments. Our biosensor constitutes a breakthrough in epigenetics, representing a highly valuable and innovative tool for cancer prognosis, diagnosis and patient follow-ups.Peer Reviewe