Ultrasensitive detection of DNA and protein markers in cancer cells

Abstract

Cancer cells differ from normal cells in various parameters, and these differences are caused by genomic mutations and consequential altered gene expression. The genetic and functional heterogeneity of tumor cells is a major challenge in cancer research, detection, and effective treatment. As such, the use of diagnostic methods is important to reveal this heterogeneity at the single-cell level. Droplet microfluidic devices are effective tools that provide exceptional sensitivity for analyzing single cells and molecules. In this review, we highlight two novel methods that employ droplet microfluidics for ultrasensitive detection of nucleic acids and protein markers in cancer cells. We also discuss the future practical applications of these methods.

Keywords

• Microfluidic droplets
• rolling circle amplification (RCA)
• peptide nucleic acids (PNA)
• cell-surface protein marker