Fluidic Multivalent Membrane Nanointerface Enables Synergetic Enrichment of Circulating Tumor Cells with High...

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Biomedical Engineering
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Cell membranes exhibit dynamic fluidity enabling multivalent interactions for biological processes.
• Current methods for isolating circulating tumor cells (CTCs) face challenges in efficiency and maintaining cell viability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To engineer a fluidic multivalent nanointerface for high-performance isolation of CTCs.
• To leverage biomimetic principles for enhanced affinity and capture efficiency in a microfluidic device.

Main Methods:

• Decorating a microfluidic chip with aptamer-functionalized leukocyte membrane nanovesicles to create a biomimetic nanointerface.
• Utilizing the fluidic nature of the interface for active recruitment and binding of CTCs.
• Comparing the performance of the multivalent nanointerface with a monovalent aptamer-functionalized chip in blood samples.

Main Results:

• Achieved a 4-order of magnitude enhancement in binding affinity.
• Demonstrated a 7-fold higher capture efficiency for CTCs compared to monovalent systems.
• Minimized background blood cell adsorption and maintained high CTC viability (97.6%).
• Successfully detected CTCs in all tested cancer patient samples (17/17).

Conclusions:

• The fluidity-enhanced multivalent binding strategy shows high potential for clinical applications in CTC detection.
• The bioengineered interface offers a novel biomimetic platform for biomedical applications by mimicking natural cell-cell interactions.
• This approach advances the design of innovative platforms using natural biomaterials and cell-cell interaction principles.