TY - JOUR
T1 - Methods and novel technology for microRNA quantification in colorectal cancer screening
AU - Moody, Laura
AU - He, Hongshan
AU - Pan, Yuan Xiang
AU - Chen, Hong
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the University of Illinois for their financial support regarding the publication fee. Support of this research by the National Science Foundation under Award CHE-1507871 (HH) is gratefully acknowledged.
Funding Information:
Support for this work was provided by a Vision 20/20 grant from Division of Nutritional Sciences in College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences and the Cancer Scholars for Translational and Applied Research (C*STAR) program funded by the University of Illinois and the Carle Cancer Center.
Funding Information:
* Correspondence: [email protected] Supported by the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, project number #ILLU-971-344, a 20/20 grant from DNS, and CSTAR program at UIUC. 1Division of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 472 Bevier Hall, MC-182, 905 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA 2Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 472 Bevier Hall, MC-182, 905 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - The screening and diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) currently relies heavily on invasive endoscopic techniques as well as imaging and antigen detection tools. More accessible and reliable biomarkers are necessary for early detection in order to expedite treatment and improve patient outcomes. Recent studies have indicated that levels of specific microRNA (miRNA) are altered in CRC; however, measuring miRNA in biological samples has proven difficult, given the complicated and lengthy PCR-based procedures used by most laboratories. In this manuscript, we examine the potential of miRNA as CRC biomarkers, summarize the methods that have commonly been employed to quantify miRNA, and focus on novel strategies that can improve or replace existing technology for feasible implementation in a clinical setting. These include isothermal amplification techniques that can potentially eliminate the need for specialized thermocycling equipment. Additionally, we propose the use of near-infrared (NIR) probes which can minimize autofluorescence and photobleaching and streamline quantification without tedious sample processing. We suggest that novel miRNA quantification tools will be necessary to encourage new discoveries and facilitate their translation to clinical practice.
AB - The screening and diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) currently relies heavily on invasive endoscopic techniques as well as imaging and antigen detection tools. More accessible and reliable biomarkers are necessary for early detection in order to expedite treatment and improve patient outcomes. Recent studies have indicated that levels of specific microRNA (miRNA) are altered in CRC; however, measuring miRNA in biological samples has proven difficult, given the complicated and lengthy PCR-based procedures used by most laboratories. In this manuscript, we examine the potential of miRNA as CRC biomarkers, summarize the methods that have commonly been employed to quantify miRNA, and focus on novel strategies that can improve or replace existing technology for feasible implementation in a clinical setting. These include isothermal amplification techniques that can potentially eliminate the need for specialized thermocycling equipment. Additionally, we propose the use of near-infrared (NIR) probes which can minimize autofluorescence and photobleaching and streamline quantification without tedious sample processing. We suggest that novel miRNA quantification tools will be necessary to encourage new discoveries and facilitate their translation to clinical practice.
KW - Colorectal cancer
KW - Diagnosis
KW - Isothermal
KW - Near-infrared (NIR)
KW - Optical imaging
KW - Ytterbium
KW - miRNA
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U2 - 10.1186/s13148-017-0420-9
DO - 10.1186/s13148-017-0420-9
M3 - Review article
C2 - 29090038
AN - SCOPUS:85049835129
SN - 1868-7075
VL - 9
SP - 119
JO - Clinical epigenetics
JF - Clinical epigenetics
ER -