The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) medical convergence measurement group has developed a diagnostic platform that amplifies the unique optical signals of molecules by more than hundreds of millions of times, accurately detecting and quantifying trace amounts of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in body fluids. With a simple body fluid test, the platform can quantitatively detect biomarkers with ultra-high sensitivity and high reliability, which is expected to complement the limitations of existing imaging diagnostic methods and be used for early diagnosis and treatment monitoring of the disease.
Alzheimer's disease is a representative degenerative brain disease that gradually impairs cognitive functions such as memory and thinking due to the progressive damage to brain nerve cells. It is common, accounting for about 60-70% of dementia worldwide, but there is still no fundamental treatment, making early diagnosis and continuous management crucial.
However, the imaging equipment currently used to diagnose Alzheimer's disease has limitations, being costly and requiring specialized facilities. The more convenient body fluid testing methods have not been utilized as reliable diagnostic methods due to their low accuracy.
The research team developed an ultra-sensitive multiplex quantitative detection platform that is more than 100,000 times more sensitive than existing body fluid testing methods, capable of quantitatively measuring and accurately differentiating multiple biomarkers. The method amplifies the unique signals generated when light interacts with target molecules using metallic nanostructures, allowing for accurate detection even of extremely small quantities of molecules. The research team developed sunflower-shaped gold nanoparticles that can detect strong and uniform signals individually.
Using this platform, they successfully quantified trace amounts of the biomarkers closely associated with Alzheimer's disease, amyloid beta (Aβ) 42 and 40, detecting levels below 1 trillionth of a gram. This represents world-class multiplex quantitative detection performance in terms of sensitivity and detection range.
Eun-ah Yoo, a principal researcher at KRISS, noted, "The detection platform developed this time can be mass-produced at low cost and flexibly applied to various biomarkers, which means it has high versatility and is favorable for commercialization in early and rapid in vitro diagnosis and monitoring of various diseases, including not only Alzheimer's disease but also cancer, brain disorders, and infectious diseases."
The results of this study were published in the international academic journal "Biosensors & Bioelectronics" in April.
References
Biosensors & Bioelectronics (2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2025.117216