Ricerc@Sapienza

The protein corona (PC) that forms around nanomaterials upon exposure to human biofluids (e.g., serum, plasma, cerebral spinal fluid etc.) is personalized, i.e., it depends on alterations of the human proteome as those occurring in several cancer types [1]. This may relevant for early cancer detection when changes in concentration of typical biomarkers are often too low to be detected by blood tests.Recent advances in nanotechnology have provided promising outcomes that could pave the way to future developments of early diagnostic tools. Among nanomaterials under development for in vitro diagnostic testing, Graphene Oxide (GO) is regarded as one of the most promising ones due to its intrinsic properties and peculiar behavior in biological environments [2]. By taking advantage of these principles, herein it is proposed an innovative diagnostic technique for early cancer detection based on the characterization of the PC that forms around Graphene Oxide (GO) nanoflakes. In contrast to mass spectrometry, the power of this approach does not rely on the discovery of cancer biomarkers, but rather on the overall evaluation of the protein pattern by means of sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Moreover, the developed tool meets the ASSURED (Affordable, Sensitive, Specific, User-friendly, Rapid and robust, Equipment-free and Deliverable to end-users) criteria stated by the World Health Organization (WHO) for cancer screening and detection and needs just one drop of patient's blood. We predict that a systematic investigation of GO-PC may improve our knowledge of several tumor biology and that a PC-based technology may offer new opportunities for cancer detection and biomarkers identification.