Extracellular vesicles are membrane-enclosed entities released by living cells, resembling their cellular origin. These vesicles hold great potential as alternative targets for bacteria detection and as markers for disease. Their small nano-size, compared to parent cells, facilitates easy conjugation with targeting ligands, enhancing detection strategies. The presence of numerous extracellular vesicles in the extracellular environment is particularly significant, offering abundant target sites for detection. Leveraging these advantages, our research group aims to utilise extracellular vesicles and tailor nanoparticles as promising markers for pathogen and disease detection, employing strategies developed within our group.
As an example, we seek to detect Escherichia coli bacteria by capturing their extracellular vesicles using a sandwich ELISA-based platform. Highly specific DNA aptamers are utilized to target extracellular vesicles derived from Escherichia coli. These aptamers are conjugated with InP/ZnS quantum dots to enable fluorescence-based detection. Furthermore, we employ a similar approach using a gold substrate and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to capture breath-derived extracellular vesicless for lung cancer detection. Upon successful capture of disease-specific extracellular vesicles, an electrical response confirms the detection, potentially enabling the development of a disease breathalyser.
By harnessing nature's own nanoparticles in conjunction with nanotechnology, our research group aims to pioneer novel strategies for the detection of pathogens and diseases.