Exosomes are a subpopulation of microvesicles that can be isolated from biofluids such as blood, urine and cerebrospinal fluid. High-quality RNA and DNA can be extracted from exosomes, which are shed by cells under normal and pathological conditions, and purified for analysis. Exosomes also exist as a key part of the body's communication system that carries genetic instructions from cell to cell. They contain nucleic acids and proteins from their hosts cells and are generally considered essential for biomarker discovery when it comes to personalized healthcare diagnostics. Exosome Diagnostics' proprietary technology takes advantage of the presence of nucleic acids in exosomes to detect and measure the levels of genes associated with cancer, neurodegenerative, metabolic, infectious and other diseases.  

 

The exosome technology-driven kits from QIAGEN will enable users to work with scalable patient sample volumes from as little as 200µ, as well as RNA capture from frozen, bio-banked fluids. The kits will also enable the use of plasma, urine and cerebrospinal fluid without requiring special stabilization or handling, and streamlined clinical laboratory workflow for analysis on PCR, pyrosequencing and next-generation sequencing instruments. This approach allows such analyses to be performed without requiring tissue and/or cells that might involve invasive procedures.  

 

"Our partnership with QIAGEN brings unprecedented access to key genetic information directly from a patient's biofluid sample for academic, biomedical research and pharmaceutical drug programs around the world," James McCullough, CEO of Exosome Diagnostics, said in a press release. "We expect this partnership, focused on development of a broad range of products, will help accelerate commercialization of the next generation of minimally invasive, clinical-grade diagnostics for personalized healthcare."    

 

 

SOURCE: QIAGEN press release