: The formation of a personalized protein corona (PC) on nanoparticles (NPs) upon exposure to biological fluids has emerged as a promising, minimally invasive strategy for early cancer detection. This study introduces a standardized protocol for profiling the protein corona using sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), optimized to ensure robustness, reproducibility, and automation. The method was rigorously validated across a variety of nanoparticle (NP) platforms, plasma sources, and experimental conditions, demonstrating consistently reproducible profiles with minimal operator-dependent variability. In comparison to conventional proteomics techniques, this approach offers a faster, more cost-effective solution that meets the World Health Organization's REASSURED criteria for diagnostics. When applied to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a highly aggressive malignancy with limited early biomarkers, this workflow achieved classification accuracies of up to 90%, even in early-stage patients. This standardized platform marks a significant advancement towards scalable, clinically translatable, and affordable diagnostic tools for cancer screening.
Standardized SDS-PAGE Workflow for Personalized Protein Corona Profiling in Early Cancer Detection / Quagliarini, E.; Digiacomo, L.; Giulimondi, F.; Renzi, S.; Iacobini, M.; Caracciolo, G.; Pozzi, D.. - In: JOURNAL OF VISUALIZED EXPERIMENTS. - ISSN 1940-087X. - 2025-:226(2025). [10.3791/69090]
Standardized SDS-PAGE Workflow for Personalized Protein Corona Profiling in Early Cancer Detection
Digiacomo L.;Giulimondi F.;Iacobini M.;Pozzi D.
2025
Abstract
: The formation of a personalized protein corona (PC) on nanoparticles (NPs) upon exposure to biological fluids has emerged as a promising, minimally invasive strategy for early cancer detection. This study introduces a standardized protocol for profiling the protein corona using sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), optimized to ensure robustness, reproducibility, and automation. The method was rigorously validated across a variety of nanoparticle (NP) platforms, plasma sources, and experimental conditions, demonstrating consistently reproducible profiles with minimal operator-dependent variability. In comparison to conventional proteomics techniques, this approach offers a faster, more cost-effective solution that meets the World Health Organization's REASSURED criteria for diagnostics. When applied to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a highly aggressive malignancy with limited early biomarkers, this workflow achieved classification accuracies of up to 90%, even in early-stage patients. This standardized platform marks a significant advancement towards scalable, clinically translatable, and affordable diagnostic tools for cancer screening.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.


