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A Novel CTC-Binding Probe: Enzymatic vs. Shear Stress-Based Detachment Approaches.
Sophia Krakowski1,2, Sara Campos3, Henri Wolff1,2
1Deutsches Herzzentrum der Charité, Institute of Computer-Assisted Cardiovascular Medicine, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland)
|August 14, 2025
Summary
Researchers explored detaching circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from a medical device using enzymes and flow. Enzymatic methods detached 91% of cells, but added flow did not improve efficiency, suggesting further optimization is needed for personalized cancer therapy.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Oncology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Liquid biopsy offers a minimally invasive method for disease diagnosis, utilizing circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as biomarkers.
- Isolating CTCs from blood is challenging due to their low concentration (1-10 cells/mL).
- A medical device, BMProbe™, was developed for CTC isolation via antigen-antibody binding.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate methods for detaching LNCaP cells from BMProbes™ for further analysis.
- To evaluate enzymatic detachment and flow-induced shear stress for enhanced CTC release.
- To optimize cell detachment for personalized therapy planning.
Main Methods:
- Two detachment methods were tested: enzymatic (TrypLE™) and enzymatic with flow-induced shear stress.
- Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations determined optimal flow rates for gentle cell detachment.
- Detachment efficiency was quantified experimentally.
Main Results:
- Enzymatic detachment successfully released 91% of bound cells within 10 minutes.
- CFD simulations identified a maximum flow rate of 47.76 mL/min, yielding 8.4 Pa average shear stress.
- The addition of flow-induced shear stress did not significantly improve CTC detachment efficiency.
Conclusions:
- Enzymatic detachment is effective for releasing CTCs from the BMProbe™.
- Detachment efficiency may be enhanced by increasing enzymatic incubation time or shear stress.
- Cell integrity and viability must be considered during detachment optimization for downstream applications.
