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J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2020;6:5 I http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-4722.2020.13 Page 13 of 38

18. Innovative technologies for cancer diagnosis and management metal-organic framework
encapsulation for biospecimen and biotherapeutic preservation

1
Jeremiah Morrissey , Srikanth Singamaneni 2
1 Department of Anesthesiology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA.
2 Institute of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials
Science, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA.

Background and aim: Handling, transport, and storage of biospecimens such as blood and urine without
refrigeration are extremely challenging. This formidable challenge leads to an inevitable reliance on a
“cold chain” for shipping, handling, and storage of biospecimens throughout the world. The cold chain
requirement impedes biospecimen procurement from under-served populations and resource-limited
settings where refrigeration and electricity are not reliable or even available.

Experimental procedure: Here, we introduce a universal biospecimen preservation approach based on
nanoporous material encapsulation for preserving protein biomarkers in biofluids under non-refrigerated
storage conditions. We used urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin and plasma CA-125 as the
model protein biomarkers and measured their concentrations before and after encapsulation by enzyme-
linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Results: We found that encapsulation in a zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8), a nanoporous material,
can preserve protein biomarkers in urine and plasma for weeks at room temperature and 40 °C. The
preservation efficacy for ELISA assay was greater than 85%, comparable to freezing liquid samples at -20 °C.
The protein biomarkers in the relevant biofluids were first encapsulated within the nanoporous ZIF-8
crystals, then dried on paper substrates via a dry spot sample collection method, and later reconstituted for
analysis. This technology also preserves the biologic activity of insulin in liquid form for therapy.

Conclusion: This eco-friendly technology greatly improves biospecimen and biotherapeutic handling
in resource-limited settings. The technology may be applicable to vaccine preservation, storage, and
transport at ambient temperature. Overall, this environmentally-friendly and energy-efficient approach
will alleviate huge financial and environmental burdens associated with “cold chain” facilities and extends
biomedical research and treatment benefits to underserved populations from regions/populations currently
inaccessible.

19. Microrna-335-5p as a suppressor of metastasis and invasion in gastric cancer

1,2
1,2
Iva Polakovicova , Alejandra Sandoval-Borquez , Nicolas Carrasco-Veliz , Lorena Lobos-
3,4
6
6
González 3,4,5 , Paulina González-Villarroel , Alejandro Gottlieb-Riquelme , Edison Salas-
4,7
8
Huenuleo , Manuel Varas-Godoy , Alejandro Corvalán 1,2
1 Laboratory of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 340, Chile.
2 Advanced Center for Chronic Diseases, Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 340, Chile.
3 Laboratory of Cellular Communication, Center for Studies on Exercise, Metabolism and Cancer (CEMC),
Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICBM), Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Chile, Santiago 1058, Chile.
4 Advanced Center for Chronic Diseases, Universidad de Chile, Santiago 1058, Chile.
5 Centro de Medicina Regenerativa, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago 456, Chile.
6 Escuela de Tecnología Médica, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago 239, Chile.