Akadeum Life Sciences at EDRN 2021

Event Start Date: 03/23/2021 Share

The 12th Scientific Workshop of the Early Detection Research Network. 20th Year of EDRN: Making Cancer Detection Possible

Virtual Conference
March 23-25, 2021

Akadeum Life Sciences will be presenting two posters at EDRN’s virtual conference in March, 2021. We are looking forward to sharing these with you!

Enrichment of Rare Circulating Cells Using Microbubble-Based Preparation

Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) are a useful biomarker for cancer detection and monitoring. Enriching for rare cells from blood or tissues presents significant sample preparation challenges. Current methods for CTC preparation leave behind red blood cells (RBCs) as well as other nucleated cells affecting their downstream analysis or are harsh often damaging the cells of interest. Microbubble technology can remove up to 99% of contaminant RBCs in less than 10 minutes start-to-finish. By binding to the surface markers identified by specific antigens in the bubbles, the removal of RBCs, platelets, and other unwanted cells becomes quick and simple. Microbubbles have been described as an alternative or adjunct to magnetic beads or microfluidic methods for CTC sample preparation. This technology may find particular value in applications where mechanical force needs to be minimized or magnetization of cells needs to be avoided.

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Nucleic Acid Extraction with Microbubbles from Saliva Enables Enrichment from Larger Sample Volume

Saliva presents an excellent option for non-invasive self-collected samples for screening studies. Previous research suggests using saliva to quantifiably measure analytes is predictive of disease presentation. Still, technical hurdles have prevented efficient and cost-effective scaling that would allow widespread adoption of saliva testing. Akadeum’s functionalized buoyant microbubbles overcome the limitations of magnetics and enable quantitative large-volume saliva testing. In head-to-head comparisons with the MagMAX™ Viral RNA Isolation Kit (ThermoFisher Scientific), Akadeum’s microbubble-based nucleic acid extraction protocol routinely achieved 10-25 times more viral RNA detected by downstream qPCR. This enhancement in sensitivity was shown to be robust and reproducible and translated into greater concordance with NPS tests. Akadeum microbubbles represent the next generation of isolation technology by offering the tools needed to identify patients early in disease, those with low viral load, or positive samples diluted in a pooled saliva setting.