Isolating salivary exosomes with acoustofluidic device

On July 23, 1885, former President Ulysses Grant strangled to death due to a squamous cell carcinoma at the base of his tongue—the only American President known to have died of cancer.  The cause, almost certainly, was a human papilloma virus, which was impossible to detect then, and hard enough today.  However, researchers at Duke, UCLA and the University of Birmingham (UK) have collaborated on an acoustofluidic platform that can isolate salivary exosomes and then detect HPV16 at an early stage.  “Overall, these data demonstrated that the acoustofluidic platform can achieve high-purity and high-yield salivary exosome isolation for downstream salivary exosome–based liquid biopsy applications. Additionally, HPV16 DNA sequences in HPV-OPC patients are packaged in salivary exosomes and their isolation will enhance the detection of HPV16 DNA.”  MORE

Image Credit: Duke, UCLA and University of Birmingham and Journal of Molecular Diagnostics