July 19, 2018
Keio University School of Medicine
Tokyo Medical University
JVCKENWOOD Corporation
Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development
Senior Lecturer Yasuaki Kabe of the Department of Biochemistry, Keio University School of Medicine, in a joint research project with Project Professor Hiroshi Handa of the Department of Nanoparticle-based Advanced Medical Application at Tokyo Medical University and JVCKENWOOD Corporation, has developed a new exosome measurement system called the “ExoCounter,” which is based on a novel principle that combines optical disc and nanobead technologies. The “ExoCounter” is a new measurement system that binds disease-specific proteins (surface antigens) on the surface of exosomes to magnetic nanobeads on a special optical disc. The resulting complexes are then detected by an optical disc drive, allowing for the highly accurate and simple measurement of the number of disease-specific exosomes. Exosomes are microparticles found mainly in the blood and are secreted by various cells. This technology eliminates the need for preprocessing steps such as exosome purification, which were conventionally required for detecting cancer-specific exosomes secreted from cancer cells, and is expected to advance cancer diagnosis and other applications.
In this study, as part of a large-scale disease cohort study using samples from the BioBank Japan Project of the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), we measured the number of cancer-derived exosomes. This was done by binding exosomes with the HER2 surface antigen secreted by cancer cells to magnetic nanobeads on the surface of an optical disc and detecting these complexes with the ExoCounter. The results revealed for the first time that the number of cancer-specific exosomes expressing HER2, a known cancer marker, is statistically significantly higher in the serum of breast cancer and ovarian cancer patients.
These findings are expected to lead to the development of new cancer diagnostic and therapeutic methods based on exosomes, as well as to the advancement of cancer research.
These research results were published in the online early edition of the American scientific journal "Clinical Chemistry" on Wednesday, July 18, 2018 (US Eastern Time).
For the full press release, please see below.