Enrichment of Extracellular Vesicles Via Lipid Nanoprobe-Functionalized Nanostructured Silica Microdevice

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), from clinical plasma samples, have recently been used towards applications of cancer diagnostics and treatment monitoring. However, clinical translation has been limited by technical challenges in EV enrichment. Thus, we have reported on the development of a microdevice platform that utilizes dual capture principles for improved EV isolation and enrichment. By utilizing (1) an EV-specific lipid nanoprobe-grafted silica for isolation via EV tethering and (2) EV size-matched nanostructures for isolation via physical trapping, isolation efficiency is increased by nearly three times. Furthermore, this continuous-flow microdevice eliminates plasma protein contaminants by upwards of ~97%.