# Daily Quantification of Cancer-Associated Exosomal miRNA in Patient Blood by Photonic Crystal-Enhanced Quantum Dot Emission

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN · 2020 · $376,412

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The primary goal of this proposal is to develop a new technology that can allow patients to repeatedly measure
nucleic acid-based cancer biomarkers from a single drop of blood on a daily basis. This assay is being developed
for specific clinical applications to determine drug treatment efficacies, prognosticate survival, and monitor post-
treatment intervention by evaluating candidate nucleic acids shed from the tumor into blood of a cancer patient.
We are focusing on detecting microRNA due to a very strong correlation with survival that our team has recently
identified for patients with metastatic prostate cancer. We hypothesize that by measuring the concentrations of
these markers in patients on a frequent basis during the course of therapy, we can precisely adjust therapeutic
regimens for individual patients. However, accurately measuring microRNA in blood requires an extremely high
limit of detection due to low concentrations, detection over a broad range of concentrations, and high sequence-
specificity, attributes that are not currently possible for routine screening of fingerstick blood samples using
standard methods of detection, such as PCR. Toward this end, our clinical needs have inspired a new form of
assay to measure nucleic acids in blood through direct molecular counting in a microscope. This is now possible
because we have developed novel ways to amplify the signals from individual molecules through a series of
synergistic technologies, including light-emitting quantum dots, electric field-enhancing photonic crystals, and
single-step sequence-specific enzymatic growth of microRNA. We now will combine these technologies to set
the stage for measurement of microRNA using low-cost equipment that is already available in clinical diagnostic
laboratories to minimize translational barriers to clinical adoption. To achieve these goals, our multi-investigator
team has extensive expertise in probes for single-molecule imaging (Andrew Smith), optical detection in low-
cost devices (Brian Cunningham), clinical oncology (Manish Kohli), biomarker discovery (Liang Wang), and
epidemiology/biostatistics (Rebecca Smith). We will optimize our platform using a combination of synthetic and
clinical blood specimens and thoroughly analyze the sequence selectivity of our assay, particularly focusing on
microRNA variants, and closely compare our results with those from quantitative PCR assays. By the end of this
award period, we expect to have developed the first direct-readout microRNA assay for use in human samples
that is compatible with low-cost equipment, optimized the synergistic integration between quantum dots and
photonic crystals, and measured, for the first time, the precise (digital) concentrations of microRNA in the blood
of 100 subjects, prospectively enrolled and followed over 6 days each during the course of standard of care
treatments for which no predictive or prognostic biomarkers currently exist in the treatment of metastatic ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9899743
- **Project number:** 5R01CA227699-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
- **Principal Investigator:** Andrew Michael Smith
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $376,412
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-03-19 → 2023-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9899743

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9899743, Daily Quantification of Cancer-Associated Exosomal miRNA in Patient Blood by Photonic Crystal-Enhanced Quantum Dot Emission (5R01CA227699-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9899743. Licensed CC0.

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