Magnetic analysis of extracellular vesicle glycans

A system for analyzing extracellular vesicle glycans in a fluid sample, the system comprising:

• a plurality of microfluidic devices for analyzing extracellular vesicle glycans, each of the plurality of microfluidic devices comprising:
• an inlet portion configured to receive a fluid sample;
• a mixing portion fluidically coupled to the inlet portion and configured to facilitate mixing between the fluid sample and magnetic nanoparticles functionalized to bind with extracellular vesicles and aggregate to extracellular vesicle glycans in the fluid sample;
• a magnetic separation portion comprising a serpentine channel overlaid with a magnetic strip, the magnetic separation portion fluidically coupled to the mixing portion and configured to separate clusters of magnetic nanoparticles from the fluid sample;
• and
• a magnetic sensor configured to measure magnetic properties of the fluid sample after it has passed through the magnetic separation portion;
• magnetic nanoparticles functionalized to bind with extracellular vesicles;
• and
• a plurality of different lectins, wherein each of the plurality of different lectins binds with different respective target extracellular vesicle glycan.

A method of analyzing target extracellular vesicle glycans in a fluid sample, the method comprising:

• adding the fluid sample to a microfluidic device comprising:
• an inlet portion configured to receive the fluid sample;
• a mixing portion fluidically coupled to the inlet portion and configured to facilitate mixing between the fluid sample and magnetic nanoparticles functionalized to bind with extracellular vesicles and aggregate to extracellular vesicle glycans in the fluid sample;
• a magnetic separation portion comprising a serpentine channel overlaid with a magnetic strip, the magnetic separation portion fluidically coupled to the mixing portion and configured to separate clusters of magnetic nanoparticles from the fluid sample;
• and
• a magnetic sensor configured to measure magnetic properties of the fluid sample after it has passed through the magnetic separation portion;
• mixing the fluid sample with magnetic nanoparticles functionalized to bind with extracellular vesicles present in the fluid sample and a lectin selected to bind with target extracellular vesicle glycans at the mixing portion of the microfluidic device;
• passing the fluid sample through the magnetic separation portion to magnetically separate nanoparticle clusters formed by multivalent binding of the lectins and target extracellular vesicle glycans;
• measuring a magnetic property of the fluid sample that passed through the magnetic separation portion at the magnetic sensor;
• and
• determining a characteristic of the extracellular vesicle glycans in the fluid sample from the magnetic property.