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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mol. Biosci.
Sec. Molecular Diagnostics and Therapeutics
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2025.1531108
This article is part of the Research Topic Applications of High-Sensitivity Detection, Component Analysis, and Vector Construction for Extracellular Vesicles in Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment View all articles

Labeling tumor-associated extracellular vesicles with antibody-DNA conjugates for quantitative analysis

Provisionally accepted
Qingchang Tian Qingchang Tian 1*Xiao Du Xiao Du 1Hongxiu Li Hongxiu Li 1Shiyi Shen Shiyi Shen 1Chao Tian Chao Tian 1Xiaohuan Cao Xiaohuan Cao 1Xingang Xu Xingang Xu 1Nan Xu Nan Xu 2Wang Shuling Wang Shuling 1
  • 1 Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
  • 2 Shandong Research Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Extracellular vesicles (EVs) shed from tumor cells into peripheral circulation or other body fluids are promising biomarkers for cancer diagnosis with enormously long circulation. Consequently, precise methods for differentiating normal and tumor-associated EVs (TAEs) are required. This study used quantifiable antibody-DNA conjugate-assisted quantitative methods combined with proximity ligation technology to detect TAEs. The antibody-DNA conjugate contained one antibody associated with three oligonucleotides for signal amplification. The antibody in the conjugate can recognize the surface tumor antigens of TAEs.Simultaneously, DNA in the conjugate is attached to the surfaces of TAEs and holds the signal amplification post, converting protein identities to DNA amplification for protein detection, even at the molecular level. These findings revealed that TAEs can be quantitatively detected using DNA-mediated quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Antibody-DNA conjugates were used to recognize the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) antigen on the TAE surface and quantify the antigen using qPCR for cancer analysis. This method proposed a new quantitative detection approach for TAEs, which aim to identify specific EV-associated markers for diagnostic or therapeutic ,this method could inspire a new idea for tumor diagnosis and detection of other diseases.

    Keywords: extracellular vesicles, Antibody-DNA conjugates, Poisson Distribution, Proximity ligation technology, Tumor diagnosis

    Received: 19 Nov 2024; Accepted: 06 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Tian, Du, Li, Shen, Tian, Cao, Xu, Xu and Shuling. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Qingchang Tian, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.