Yuan Liu

Evolution of Multivalent Aptamer Corona for High‐Throughput Multiplexed Detection of Multiple Cancers

Abstract Clinical in vitro diagnosis is essential in early diagnosis and prognostic assessment, yet antibody‐based assays face limitations in multiplexity and scalability. To address the growing demand for modern molecular diagnostics, a multivalent aptamer corona platform for high‐throughput is introduced and multiplexed multi‐cancer diagnosis. With clinical serum samples, ovarian cancer‐, lung cancer‐, and colorectal cancer‐based aptamer coronas are obtained through several rounds of alternating positive and negative systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). Leveraging a de novo ProteoFish‐SELEX strategy, which integrates nanoparticle‐protein corona technology, a multivalent aptamer corona is evolved. Proteomic profiling of protein coronas revealed cancer‐associated protein signatures, while aptomic profiling of aptamer coronas identified high‐affinity cancer‐specific aptamers. With these aptamers, high diagnostic accuracy is demonstrated in multiplexed multi‐cancer detection using clinical cohorts. Multivalent aptamer corona's outstanding diagnostic performance, multiplexed detection capability, and sequencing‐enabled high‐throughput potential position it as a promising versatile tool for novel biomarker discovery and a transformative advancement in precision oncology.

Personalized Cancer-Specific Protein-Aptamer Corona for Orthogonal Multiplex Cancer Diagnosis

Aptamers are powerful synthetic recognition elements for biosensing, yet their application in complex biofluids, such as human serum, is critically limited by enzymatic degradation. To overcome this fundamental challenge, we introduce a novel analytical platform centered on the concept of a personalized protein-aptamer corona (PAC). This strategy leverages the spontaneous formation of a disease-specific protein corona on magnetic nanoparticles, which not only enriches low-abundance biomarkers but also creates a stabilized, nuclease-free nanobio interface for subsequent aptamer recognition. The integration of this PAC concept with an 8-channel orthogonal multiplexed electrochemical (OMEC) chip enables sensitive, amplification-free (PCR-free) signal transduction via alternating current voltammetry. By coupling this platform with machine learning algorithms, we translate complex, multiplexed aptamer binding signatures into a robust diagnostic output. Clinical validation on two independent cancer cohorts demonstrated outstanding performance, achieving an area under the curve of 99.50% for ovarian cancer (

Testing a Population-Based Outreach Intervention for Ovarian Cancer Survivors to Encourage their Close Relatives to Consider Genetic Counseling

Abstract Background: Most relatives of women with ovarian cancer are unaware of their increased risk for cancer and their eligibility for genetic counseling. State cancer registries offer a platform to communicate about inherited risk to this population. Methods: We conducted a two-arm randomized trial to test a theory-based communication intervention—Your Family Connects (YFC)—compared to the standard Georgia Cancer Registry (GCR) contact. A total of 1,938 eligible ovarian cancer survivors were randomly assigned to either the YFC arm (n = 969) or the Standard Care arm (n = 969). We assessed the number of ovarian cancer survivors and their close relatives who logged on to the study website by arm. Results: Survivor reach was significantly higher in the Standard Care arm than YFC (20.8% vs. 15.2%, respectively; P < 0.001). However, reach to relatives was limited to listed relatives in the YFC arm (n = 20, 13.2%), with little participation from those in the Standard Care arm (n = 1, 0.4%). Pooling across arms, minority race, longer time since diagnosis, and older age were all significantly associated with a decreased likelihood that the survivor accessed the website. Conclusions: The YFC intervention showed lower effectiveness for engaging survivors but was more effective than Standard Care in engaging at-risk relatives. Other factors (e.g., time since diagnosis) associated with lower reach must be considered in refining future outreach approaches. Impact: Partnering with a state cancer registry to foster family communication about inherited cancer risk is feasible but the possibility for broad population reach warrants further testing.