A Sample-to-Targeted Gene Analysis Biochip for Nanofluidic Manipulation of Solid-Phase Circulating Tumor Nucleic Acid Amplification in Liquid Biopsies

The use of circulating tumor nucleic acids (ctNA) in patient liquid biopsies for targeted genetic analysis is rapidly increasing in clinical oncology. Still, the call for an integrated methodology, which is both rapid and sensitive for analyzing trace ctNA amount in liquid biopsies, has unfortunately not been fully realized. Herein, we performed complex liquid biopsy sample-to-targeted genetic analysis on a biochip with a 50 copies-detection limit within 30 min. Our biochip uniquely integrated the following: (1) electrical lysis and release of cellular targets with minimal processing; (2) nanofluidic manipulation to accelerate molecular kinetics of solid-phase isothermal amplification; and (3) single-step capture and amplification of multiple NA targets prior to nanozyme-mediated electrochemical detection. Using prostate cancer liquid biopsies, we successfully demonstrated multifunctionality for cancer risk prediction; correlation of serum and urine analyses; and cancer relapse monitoring.