Nanotechnology based assays for validating protein biomarkers

The National Cancer Institute's Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer has released a special feature paper titled Nanotechnology-Based Assays for Validating Protein Biomarkers.As the paper states, nanotechnology offers some unique diagnostic capabilities for developing highly sensitive and selective assays.Compared to traditional ELISAs, Gyro Mark™ assays consume less reagents and require only 200 –1000 n L of sample.

Research and clinical experience have revealed that testing a single protein or other substance in people may not be the most reliable marker of disease.

A leading cause of failure in any drug development program is organ toxicity, such as in the kidney.

Traditional nephrotoxicity biomarkers may show insufficient tissue specificity and often cannot be detected until damage is irreversible.

Many researchers are working to move this work into the clinic as soon as possible.

Research is continuing in the investigation of the use of genetic markers to detect cancer.