Enrichment of cancer cells using aptamers immobilized on a microfluidic channel.
This work describes the development and investigation of an aptamer modified microfluidic device that captures rare cells to achieve a rapid assay without pretreatment of cells. To accomplish this, aptamers are first immobilized on the surface of a poly(dimethylsiloxane) microchannel, followed by pumping a mixture of cells through the device. This process permits the use of optical microscopy to measure the cell-surface density from which we calculate the percentage of cells captured as a function of cell and aptamer concentration, flow velocity, and incubation time. This aptamer-based device was demonstrated to capture target cells with >97% purity and >80% efficiency. Since the cell capture assay is completed within minutes and requires no pretreatment of cells, the device promises to play a key role in the early detection and diagnosis of cancer where rare diseased cells can first be enriched and then captured for detection.
Phillips
Joseph A
JA
Center for Research at the Bio/Nano Interface, Department of Chemistry, UF Genetics Institute, and McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611-7200, USA.
Xu
Ye
Y
Xia
Zheng
Z
Fan
Z Hugh
ZH
Tan
Weihong
W
D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide / Q000737:chemistry*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods*; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*
D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; C013830:baysilon