Engineering an Isothermal Amplification Strategy for Ultrasensitive and Quantitative Detection of microRNA Cancer Biomarkers King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)

Overview

MicroRNA (miRNA) are short (~22 nt) non-coding RNA that have emerged as highly promising diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers due to their gene regulatory functions and dysregulated expression profiles in many diseases including cancer. While promising, their absolute quantification is challenging due to their short lengths, low circulating concentrations, and high sequence homology among family members. 

Key Facts

The gold standard method for miRNA detection, based on reverse-transcription qPCR, involves complex multistep procedures and requires thermal cycling, trained personnel and bulky equipment. This Engineering an Isothermal Amplification Strategy for Ultrasensitive and Quantitative Detection of microRNA Cancer Biomarkers (Internship) project from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) aims to develop a novel quantitative and isothermal strategy for ultrasensitive detection of miRNA at the point-of-care, i.e. in a simple, cost-effective and efficient manner from minute volumes of a patient's biological fluid sample. 

Ultimately, this project will lead to the development of highly sensitive point-of-care biosensors for cancer diagnosis, prognosis or monitoring based on multiplex detection of microRNA cancer biomarkers from a minimally-invasive 'liquid biopsy' test.