Project description
Microfluidic platform for cancer vesicle isolation
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nano-sized particles released by cells to communicate with their surroundings. Their molecular cargo reflects the state and origin of their parent cells, making EVs highly promising biomarkers for early cancer detection and therapy. However, current EV isolation methods are slow, require large sample volumes and often lack purity, limiting their clinical use. The ERC-funded TheraSonic project tackles this challenge by modelling and developing microfluidic systems to enrich EVs from microlitre quantities of body fluids or tumour-derived samples. These systems aim to deliver high-throughput, scalable and highly selective enrichment of specific EV fractions, laying the foundation for personalised cancer diagnostics and future EV-based therapeutic approaches.
Objective
This proposal develops a pioneering microscale ultrasound-based system to enrich extracellular vesicles (EVs) from µL volumes of whole blood and cancer spheroids, targeting early cancer detection and revolutionizing therapeutic approaches.
EVs, nanoscale particles (30-1000 nm) released by mammalian cells, hold potential as biomarkers for cancer detection and as drug delivery vehicles due to their cell-specific cargo and ability to penetrate cell membranes. However, current isolation methods like centrifugation are time-consuming, require large sample volumes, and lack purity and scalability, limiting clinical application, particularly in high-throughput biomarker discovery and therapeutic development.
I propose to overcome these critical barriers through the creation of TheraSonic, a disruptive acoustic force-based microfluidic platform that leverages a novel particle trapping effect in bulk volumes. TheraSonic will enable the unprecedented enrichment of EVs from µL biofluid samples, offering transformative improvements in purity, scalability, and throughput. By integrating spheroid culturing and multi-omics, this platform will reveal insights into cancer heterogeneity.
Moreover, TheraSonic uniquely enables the selective isolation of EV subpopulations based on size, surface markers, and acoustic properties. This unprecedented resolution will uncover highly specific cancer vesicle profiles that current methods fail to detect, leading to the discovery of highly sensitive and specific cancer biomarkers.
The scalable nature of the platform will be harnessed to significantly increase capacity and throughput, providing needed EV material for novel autologous EV therapies. Combined with organ-on-a-chip technologies, it will facilitate the development of individualised cancer treatments on an unmatched scale.
In summary, TheraSonic represents a disruptive innovation that will induce a paradigm shift in EV enrichment, profoundly impacting cancer research and treatment.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
69117 Heidelberg
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.