An acoustofluidic device for diagnosing preclinical Alzheimer's disease

Abstract Alzheimer s diseaseADis a progressivedisabling neurodegenerative illness that affects an estimatedmillion people in the United States and approximatelyof the population over the age ofEarly symptoms of the disease include short term memory lossdifficulties with languageand mood swingshoweversymptoms gradually worsen over timeultimately leading to dementia and a loss of bodily functionsSignificant challenges exist in the diagnosis of ADIn recent yearsneuron derived exosomesnm extracellular vesicleshave emerged as a promising biomarker for diagnosing ADNeuronderived exosomes are an interesting target because they are able to cross the blood brain barrier and they contain markers that are specific to their cell of origini eneuronsAs a resultneuron derived exosomes found in circulation can provide a simplenon invasive means of monitoring the health of the central nervous systemAccumulating evidence suggests that neuron derived exosomes may play a crucial role in the pathology of AD by helping to spread abnormalpotentially disease causingmisfolded proteins throughout the brainPreliminary studies have shown that by analyzing the number of neuron derived exosomes and their molecular cargosuch as tauamyloid betaand different microRNA levelsearlystage AD patients can be distinguished from healthy controlsas well as patients with other neurological diseasesWhile researchers have made progress in identifying neuron derived exosomal proteins and RNAsdifficulties surrounding the isolation and analysis of exosomes have prevented their widespread use a biomarker for ADCurrentlythere are no commercially available products capable of simultaneously isolating and analyzing neuron derived exosomesIn this SBIR Phase I projectwe will address this unmet need by demonstrating the feasibility and utility of an acoustofluidici ethe fusion of acoustics and microfluidicsplatform for automatedhigh purityhigh yieldbiocompatible exosome isolation and accurate exosome analysis for AD diagnosisWith its advantages in automationspeedprecisionand accuracythe proposed acoustofluidic technology has the potential to greatly simplify and revolutionize the diagnosis of ADIf successfulour acoustofluidic platform could be used to help standardize exosomal biomarker research and identify preclinical AD patients at early stages for future disease altering therapies Project Narrative The proposed project is to develop tools that can perform automatedprecise exosome isolation and analysis for Alzheimer s diseaseADdiagnosisIt addresses many unmet needs in the field of AD research and has the potential to standardize research efforts related to exosomal biomarkers and establish new diagnostic criteria for AD