Isolation and Detection of Exosomes Using Fe2O3 Nanoparticles

Magnetic nanozymes with peroxidase-mimicking activity have been widely investigated for developing molecular biosensors. Herein, we report a starch-assisted method for the synthesis of a novel class of carboxyl group-functionalized iron oxide nanoparticles (C-IONPs). Scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed that the nanoparticles possess a spherical shape with an average size of ∼250 nm. Peroxidase-mimicking activity of C-IONPs was investigated through catalytic oxidation of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) in the presence of H2O2. The results showed that nanoparticles follow typical Michaelis−Menten kinetics and exhibit excellent affinity toward TMB and H2O2 with estimated KM and VMax values of 0.0992 mM and 0.156 × 10−8 Ms−1 for TMB and 114 mM and 0.197 × 10−8 Ms−1 for H2O2, respectively. C-IONPs were used to develop a simple method for the direct isolation and quantification of disease-specific exosomes. This method utilized a two-step strategy that involved (a) initial isolation of bulk exosomes present in the sample media using tetraspanin biomarker (i.e., CD9)-functionalized C-IONPs and (b) subsequent electrochemical quantification of disease-specific exosomes within the captured bulk exosomes using tumor-specific markers (in this case, the ovarian cancer biomarker CA-125). In the first step, C-IONPs were used as “dispersible nanocarriers” to capture the bulk population of exosomes, and in the second step, they were used as nanozymes to generate an enzyme-catalyzed current indicative of the presence of tumor-specific exosomes. Chronoamperometric analysis showed that the method exhibits an excellent specificity for OVCAR3 cell-derived exosomes (linear dynamic range, 6.25 × 105 to 1.0 × 107 exosomes/mL; detection limit, 1.25 × 106 exosomes/mL) with a relative standard deviation of <5.0% (n = 3). Due to their excellent enzyme catalytic activity, ability to magnetically separate the target from bulk samples, and versatile bioconjugation capability (because of the −COOH group), C-IONPs are a promising candidate for the development of advanced exosome biosensing assays for various clinical applications.