Multiplex Protein Analysis of Glioblastoma Multiform Cancer Cells Through the Use of Microring Resonators

Abstract

Next generation cancer treatments rely on molecular diagnostics
to identify the patients that would benefit from treatment. These
diagnostics are part of the larger field of personalized medicine.
One branch of molecular diagnostics is the detection of phosphoproteins
that drive cancer growth and proliferation. Phosphoprotein
information is limited because most current methods focus
on a single target. Microring resonator arrays allows for the detection
and analysis of multiple phosphoproteins. In this study,
microring resonators, which are silicon photonic biosensors, are
applied to samples of cell lysate from cancer cell culture.
Microring resonators are capable of up to 32-plex analysis. We
use this multiplexing capability to detect multiple phosphoprotein
targets in a single assay. This assay can analyze 12 phosphoprotein
levels simultaneously in less than two hours. The method
is capable of monitoring changes due to cell state and environmental
alterations. Future implications of this study include monitoring
changes in cancer cells due to treatment, differentiating
and classifying cancer cells as well as cancer stages, and studying
the effects of oncogenes in protein signaling.