Ultrasensitive Analysis of Exosomes Using a 3D Self-Assembled Nanostructured SiO₂ Microfluidic Chip

Conventional microfluidics with a solid mixer for exosome detection is constrained by the low binding efficiency of the solid–liquid boundary effects and reduced sensitivity of individual markers. Here, we report a 3D-SiO2 porous chip that combines nanoscale porous characteristics and multiple exosome specific markers to greatly improve the sensitivity for biosensing. The lower limit of detection was 220 particles/μL exosomes in PBS. We applied the 3D-SiO2 porous chip for prostate cancer (PCa) staging in mice and early detection of clinical PCa patients. The developed method could significantly differentiate the different stages of PCa in mice and improve the early detection rate in clinical patients. Expression of multiple specific markers in clinical serum samples identified disease fingerprints, alongside histological results, which supports the potential application of exosomes as a noninvasive surrogate biopsy for PCa.