Related Experiment Video For A431 cells
Updated: Apr 19, 2026
Isolation and Culture Expansion of Tumor-specific Endothelial Cells
Published on: October 14, 2015
Isolating epidermal growth factor receptor overexpressing carcinoma cells from human whole blood by bio-ferrography
Ofer Levi1, Assaf Shapira, Baruch Tal
1Biomaterials and Corrosion Lab, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel.
Background:
The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in carcinoma. In some cases, including in colorectal cancer, it is used as a therapeutic target. Bio-Ferrography is a nondestructive method for isolating magnetized cells and tissues from a fluid onto a glass slide based on their interaction with an external, strong, and focused magnetic field.
Methods:
Here, we implement Bio-Ferrography to separate EGFR-positive cancer cells from EGFR-negative noncancer cells, mixed at a ratio of 1 to 1 × 10(6) , from either phosphate-buffered saline or human whole blood. Incubation of the cells with an anti-EGFR antibody and magnetic microbeads coupled to a secondary antibody was used to magnetize the target cells prior to the ferrographic analysis.
Results:
A procedure was developed for "a proof of concept" isolation. Recovery values as high as 78% for 1 mL phosphate-buffered saline, and 53% for 1 mL human whole blood, with a limit-of-detection of 30 and 100 target cells, respectively, were achieved.
Conclusions:
These capture efficiency values are considered significant and, therefore, warrant further study on isolation of real circulating tumor cells from blood samples of patients, aiming at early diagnosis of EGFR-overexpressing tumor types.
