Barcelona, Apr 6 (EFE).- Scientists from the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona have developed a new tool that makes it possible to use transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) molecules as biomarkers to diagnose cancers and do so in the near future in less three hours and at a cost of less than 50 euros per sample.
The scientists, who publish their work this Thursday in the journal ‘Nature Biotechnology’, have managed for the first time to develop a method to measure the abundance and modifications of tRNA in a simple and cheap way, with promising applications for diagnosing and prognostic diseases, and that it is also not an invasive test and has high sensitivity and specificity.
The new cancer diagnosis method will be able to predict the malignancy of a biological sample
The method has been developed by Eva Novoa’s research group at the CRG in Barcelona, and, with funding from the Spanish Association Against Cancer, they are now using the method as a basis for developing a new kit and platform that will be able to determine if a biological sample is cancerous and predict its malignancy in less than 3 hours and at the aforementioned cost.
As Novoa explained, when transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) molecules are incorrectly modified, they produce defective or incomplete proteins, which is associated with various human diseases, including neurodegenerative, metabolic and cancer.
“tRNAs are molecules that contain a lot of information, with enormous potential for the diagnosis and prognosis of diseases and until now they have not been exploited due to the lack of methods that can capture this information in a quantitative and cost-effective way”, according to the researcher, which gives as an example that some types of cancer are difficult to diagnose because their symptoms are not specific and can be confused with other conditions.
“Being able to isolate tRNA molecules from blood samples and quantify their modifications can help diagnose cancers without using invasive biopsies or imaging tests. In addition, the type of tRNA modifications can change according to the state of the disease, providing valuable information”, added Novoa.
Limitations of current methods
Current methods for measuring tRNA molecules generally involve techniques such as next-generation sequencing or mass spectrometry, with limitations in diagnosing because they cannot detect the modifications or are unable to identify where they are in the tRNA molecule.
This new method, called Nano-tRNAseq, according to the CRG scientists, can measure both the abundance and the modifications of tRNA molecules in a single step and is based on nanopore sequencing, a technology that can sequence RNA molecules. directly by passing them through a small pore and detect changes in the electrical current that is generated when each nucleotide passes through the pore.
“Before we relied on two separate methods that are less informative, would take weeks and cost thousands of euros to get results. Nano-tRNAseq is much cheaper, and we can have results in a couple of days. In the near future, it will be in a few hours,” said CRG researcher Morghan Lucas.
Better logistics, another advantage
Another advantage is that nanopore sequencing machines for using Nano-tRNAseq are small, lightweight, and can be powered by a laptop or external battery, making them easy to transport and use in the field or in the clinic.
Although there are still some limitations to the new method, which has been tested with yeast tRNA, Lucas states “that using Nano-tRNAseq in parallel with other methods allows describing the modification profiles of the complete set of tRNAs in humans and, in In the future, using Nano-tRNAseq to identify which changes in tRNAs are associated with a certain disease.”
“Nano-tRNAseq is a proof-of-concept technology that paves the way to develop a simple, inexpensive, and highly accurate method that can non-invasively quantify these molecules. Our objective is to continue developing this technology and combine it with artificial intelligence tools to determine the malignancy of a biological sample in less than 3 hours and at a cost of no more than 50 euros per sample”, Novoa concluded.
