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Clinical Microfluidic Chip Platform for the Isolation of Versatile Circulating Tumor Cells
Published on: October 13, 2023
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Nanostructure embedded microchips for detection, isolation, and characterization of circulating tumor cells
Millicent Lin1, Jie-Fu Chen, Yi-Tsung Lu
1Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated hospital of Sun Yat-sen University , Guangzhou, 510080 Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
Accounts of Chemical Research
|August 12, 2014
Summary
Researchers developed NanoVelcro chips to efficiently detect and isolate circulating tumor cells (CTCs), offering a promising tool for cancer diagnostics and research. These advanced chips improve upon existing methods for analyzing CTCs as a liquid biopsy.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Materials Science
- Cancer Research
Background:
- Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are crucial for metastasis but challenging to detect due to their low abundance.
- Conventional tumor biopsies have limitations in accessing all disease sites.
- Developing efficient CTC detection and isolation technologies is a significant unmet need in cancer diagnostics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present the evolution and applications of NanoVelcro cell-affinity substrates for CTC detection, isolation, and characterization.
- To highlight the development of three generations of NanoVelcro CTC chips with increasing clinical utility.
- To demonstrate the potential of NanoVelcro CTC assays as powerful and cost-efficient diagnostic platforms.
Main Methods:
- Development of NanoVelcro cell-affinity substrates using nanostructured materials coated with CTC capture agents.
- Engineering of three generations of NanoVelcro chips: first-gen for enumeration, second-gen (NanoVelcro-LMD) for single-CTC isolation, and third-gen for temperature-controlled capture and release.
- Utilizing techniques such as microfluidic chaotic mixers, laser microdissection (LMD), Sanger sequencing, and next-generation sequencing (NGS) for CTC analysis.
Main Results:
- The first-gen NanoVelcro chip demonstrated higher sensitivity than the FDA-approved CellSearch assay for CTC enumeration.
- Second-gen NanoVelcro chips enabled single-CTC isolation for genotyping, confirming their role as a liquid biopsy.
- Third-gen NanoVelcro chips achieved efficient CTC capture and release using temperature-responsive polymer brushes, preserving cell viability and molecular integrity.
Conclusions:
- NanoVelcro CTC assays represent a significant advancement in cancer liquid biopsy technology.
- The continuous evolution of NanoVelcro chips provides versatile tools for CTC enumeration, isolation, and molecular characterization.
- These assays hold promise for improved cancer research, real-time disease monitoring, and the development of novel diagnostic platforms.
