Defense Date
2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
First Advisor
Joseph Reiner
Second Advisor
Jason Reed
Third Advisor
Indika Arachchige
Fourth Advisor
Richard Inho Joh
Abstract
The early detection of disease is paramount for ensuring survival and quality of life for patients. Ovarian cancer, currently one of the leading causes of death in women, generally still lacks early screening methodologies which can effectively detect cases in the early stages. The emergence of protein and peptide biomarkers in biological fluids appears promising to this end, specifically Leucine Rich Glycoprotein(LRG-1) which is found at high elevated concentrations in the urine of ovarian cancer patients.
In this research we have shown that nanoparticle assisted nanopore detection can serve as an effective label-free technique for detecting and discriminating peptide fragments generated from the digestion of the LRG-1 protein in biological fluids. This technique takes advantage of cysteine selective detection in order to target peptides and reject the complex background that exists in urine samples. This method shows great promise for development into a low-cost point of care assay for the detection of peptide biomarkers for the early screening of ovarian cancer.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
5-7-2024
Included in
Biological and Chemical Physics Commons, Biomedical Devices and Instrumentation Commons, Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Commons