Professors Chang-Hwan Lee and Jun-O Jin Team Develop Biosensor Capable of Detecting Lung Cancer Biomarkers Without Antibodies

Binding With Lung Cancer Biomarkers Generates Fluorescent Signals Visible to the Naked Eye Through Diagnostic Kit With 96% Accuracy

“A Representative Example of Basic Research Leading to Applied Technology With Potential for Early Lung Cancer Diagnosis”

▲ (From left) Professors Chang-Hwan Lee from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Jun-O Jin from the Department of Microbiology at the University of Ulsan College of Medicine and Asan Medical Center

Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer related deaths in Korea, excluding thyroid cancer. Because it causes few symptoms in its early stages, many cases are not detected until the disease has significantly progressed. In fact, only about 18 percent of lung cancer patients are diagnosed at a stage when surgery is still possible, underscoring the ongoing need for improved early diagnostic technologies.

Recently, a Korean research team developed a nanobiosensor kit capable of rapidly and precisely detecting biomarkers associated with lung cancer, raising expectations for earlier diagnosis of the disease.

A research team led by Professors Chang-Hwan Lee from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Jun-O Jin from the Department of Microbiology at the University of Ulsan College of Medicine and Asan Medical Center recently developed a kit capable of detecting lung cancer biomarkers by combining AI based structural analysis with nanotechnology. When specific DNA binds to a lung cancer biomarker, a fluorescent signal is generated, allowing the detection results to be visually confirmed without the need for complex equipment. The team reported that the diagnostic accuracy reached 96 percent.

The findings were recently published in the internationally renowned journal ‘Journal of Nanobiotechnology’, which has an impact factor of 12.6.

USE1, a biomarker associated with lung cancer, is a protein overexpressed in 92.5 percent of lung cancer patients and was first identified in 2017 by Professor Chang-Hwan Lee’s research team. In the earlier study, the team demonstrated that suppressing USE1 significantly reduced tumor growth, migration, and invasion, drawing attention to the biomarker as a major target for lung cancer diagnosis and treatment.

In the latest study, the researchers selected high affinity DNA aptamers that specifically bind to USE1 to enable rapid and precise detection for potential clinical use. Aptamers are short DNA fragments that selectively bind to specific proteins. Compared with conventional antibody based assays, they offer lower production costs and greater stability.

The research team first used AI deep learning based structural prediction to confirm that the aptamer binds near a specific region of the USE1 protein. Subsequent experiments demonstrated that the aptamer selectively binds only to USE1 and not to other similar proteins.

To enable the results to be visually confirmed with the naked eye, the researchers amplified the fluorescent signal using rolling circle amplification (RCA), a DNA amplification technology, and developed a signal enhancement system by attaching fluorescent nanoparticles known as quantum dots to the DNA structure.

In other words, when USE1 is present, the system generates a strong fluorescent signal, allowing results to be visually identified under UV light using a nanobiosensor based diagnostic kit without the need for specialized equipment.

Furthermore, the research team conducted clinical validation using actual patient tissue samples. Analysis of 30 pairs of lung cancer and normal tissue samples demonstrated excellent diagnostic performance, achieving an area under the curve (AUC) of 96 percent, sensitivity of 100 percent, and specificity of 88.3 percent.

This study represents a notable example of basic research being translated into applied technology, as the research team successfully expanded USE1, a lung cancer biomarker they originally discovered, into a clinically applicable diagnostic platform. Building on their earlier achievement of becoming the first in the world to identify the lung cancer biomarker, the team further developed an aptamer based biosensor capable of rapidly and selectively detecting the biomarker.

In addition, by incorporating AI technology, the researchers were able to demonstrate the structural validity of the molecular recognition process, further enhancing the precision and scientific interpretability of the study.

Professor Chang-Hwan Lee from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Ulsan College of Medicine and Asan Medical Center said, “The aptamer and quantum dot nanobiosensor based lung cancer diagnostic kit is a technology with strong potential for broader application in both diagnosis and treatment. It may be expanded into liquid biopsy technology using blood rather than tissue samples, and could also evolve into a companion diagnostic platform capable of identifying patients with USE1 overexpression.

Furthermore, the discovery that the aptamer binds to the enzymatic active site of USE1 suggests the possibility of developing therapeutics that inhibit USE1 function. This raises expectations for future integration with treatment related technologies beyond diagnostic applications.”