Training Courses
Keep up to date with emerging research techniques, technology developments and regulatory changes by attending one of our training courses, short courses and workshops.
|
Microfluidics and Nanofluidics for the Enrichment of Liquid Biopsy Markers from Clinical Samples and Their Subsequent Molecular Processing |
Held in conjunction with Extracellular Vesicles (EVs): Technologies & Biological Investigations 13 Dec 2021, at 08:30-11:30 in Coronado Island, California Steve Soper, Foundation Distinguished Professor; Director, Center of BioModular Multi-scale System for Precision Medicine, Adjunct Professor, Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology, The University of Kansas Steve Soper, Foundation Distinguished Professor; Director, Center of BioModular Multi-scale System for Precision Medicine, Adjunct Professor, Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology, The University of Kansas Microfluidics is becoming an integral part of medicine and has already generated some commercial applications in the biomedical research domains. For example, the Illumina next generation sequencing (NGS) platform uses a microfluidic flow cell for cluster generation followed by sequencing-by-synthesis with fluorescence readout. Even the sample preparation phases of NGS uses microfluidics; the integrity of library preparation is evaluated using the Agilent TapeStation. Many commercial microfluidic platforms are now starting to transition into the clinical domain, where specific clinical decisions are made based on biomarkers, assays and the appropriate hardware (microfluidic hardware) to provide information to the clinician on how to effectively manage a patient’s disease based on the molecular composition of their disease (i.e., precision medicine). In this workshop, participants will become familiar with some basic considerations on how to transition a new technology into the clinic (from conception to clinical implementation); we will particularly discuss microfluidic technologies and how to move them into the clinic. In this workshop, Prof. Soper
will provide an exhaustive survey of different microfluidic devices for
the selection of liquid biopsy markers (CTCs, EVs, cfDNA) from clinical
samples and then, the molecular processing of the enriched markers.
Challenges with using liquid biopsy markers as a source of molecular
material into existing processing strategies (next generation
sequencing, droplet digital PCR, LC/MS proteomics, etc.) will be
discussed. Topic areas that will be addressed upon in this training course include:
We
will use as our case examples, microfluidic technologies for the
analysis of liquid biopsy markers including circulating tumor cells,
cell free DNA, and extracellular vesicles.
The Topic Areas Addressed in this Short Course are Outlined Below: Brief introduction to the analytical challenges with the isolation of circulating markers from whole blood: CTCs, cfDNA and exosomes Introduction to LOAC technologies; what can they provide with respect to the analysis of rare circulating markers and comparison to benchtop procedures Materials for LOAC Fabrication technologies Micromilling Lithography Dry/wet etching Molding Metrology and fluid characteristics in microfluidics Electrokinetic versus hydrodynamic flow Basic fluid and particle (cell) transport Application of LOC Technologies for the Isolation of Circulating Biomarkers from Whole Blood Basic components of the liquid biopsy CTCs What is a CTC including different types? Clinical information from CTCs Benchtop techniques for the isolation of CTCs cfDNA Characteristics of cfDNA How much circulating tumor DNA is found in whole blood? What clinical information can be garnered from cfDNA? QIAGEN-based techniques for isolating cfDNA Isolation from plasma is required Exosomes What is an exosome and how is it generated? Physical characteristics of exosomes Ultra-centrifugation methods for isolating exosomes Why is it necessary to isolate exosomes from plasma? LOAC platforms for isolating plasma from whole blood Skimming technologies Filtering-based approaches Throughput – how much blood is necessary to search for rare markers? LOAC platforms for the analysis of CTCs Biological-based techniques Sinusoidal chip Micro-pillar based chip with herringbone mixer Nano-pillar chips for isolating CTCs iChip Physical-based techniques Microfluidics using dielectrophoresis Size-based separation using inertial lift forces or micro-pores LOAC platforms for the analysis of cfDNA Techniques that use magnetic beads Solid-phase extraction of cfDNA LOAC platforms for the analysis of exosomes Centrifugation-based techniques Affinity selection of disease-specific exosomes Micro-pillar technologies Solid-phase affinity selection All course delegates receive the presentations from this course as well as reviews, publications and background material which are excellent resources for business plans, R&D and investor presentations. |