Cancer cell membrane functionalized gold nanoparticles: Natural receptor Tenascin-C as biomimetic probe for sensitive detection of circulating exosomes

Circulating exosomes (crEVs) have attracted increasing interest in non-invasive cancer diagnosis and monitoring of treatment response. In this paper, cancer cell membrane functionalized AuNPs (CCM@AuNPs) containing overexpressed Tenascin-C (TNC) were synthesized as a biomimetic probe for crEVs. crEVs containing fibronectin 1 (FN1) could be recognized through the specific interaction between FN1 and TNC. CCM@AuNPs were immobilized on the gold chip surface to decrease nonspecific interactions and enhance the surface plasmon resonance signal to ensure the sensor’s accuracy and specificity. The ultra-sensitive crEVs detection was achieved through CCM@AuNPs with a low detection limit of 18.1 particles/mL−1 and the linear range of 3 × 104∼3 × 107 particles mL−1. Owing to its simple and direct detection of crEVs, this biomimetic strategy for detecting crEVs offers new possibilities for clinical non-invasive cancer diagnosis.