High-yield and rapid isolation of extracellular vesicles by flocculation via orbital acoustic trapping: FLOAT

Joseph Rufo, Peiran Zhang, Zeyu Wang, Yuyang Gu, Kaichun Yang, Joseph Rich, Chuyi Chen, Ruoyu Zhong, Ke Jin, Ye He, Jianping Xia, Ke Li, Jiarong Wu, Yingshi Ouyang, Yoel Sadovsky, Luke P. Lee, Tony Jun Huang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been identified as promising biomarkers for the noninvasive diagnosis of various diseases. However, challenges in separating EVs from soluble proteins have resulted in variable EV recovery rates and low purities. Here, we report a high-yield (> 90%) and rapid (< 10 min) EV isolation method called FLocculation via Orbital Acoustic Trapping (FLOAT). The FLOAT approach utilizes an acoustofluidic droplet centrifuge to rotate and controllably heat liquid droplets. By adding a thermoresponsive polymer flocculant, nanoparticles as small as 20 nm can be rapidly and selectively concentrated at the center of the droplet. We demonstrate the ability of FLOAT to separate urinary EVs from the highly abundant Tamm-Horsfall protein, addressing a significant obstacle in the development of EV-based liquid biopsies. Due to its high-yield nature, FLOAT reduces biofluid starting volume requirements by a factor of 100 (from 20 mL to 200 µL), demonstrating its promising potential in point-of-care diagnostics.

Original languageEnglish
Article number23
JournalMicrosystems and Nanoengineering
Volume10
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2024

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© The Author(s) 2024.

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