Abstract
Epigenetic biomarkers of cell-free circulating DNA (cfDNA) within blood of cancer patients could be considered as a promising cancer diagnostic tool in liquid biopsy. Especially, high GC methylation in promoter regions of tumor suppressor genes had demonstrated to be significantly correlated with carcinogenesis. Thus, an aptamer was selected by a systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) process such that methylated DNA fragments of tumor suppression genes in cancer cells could be isolated by using aptamer-coated magnetic beads. An integrated microfluidic system was further developed to automate a novel assay for fast diagnosis of methyl groups in cancer cells.