title: Capture and detection of cancer cells in whole blood with magnetic-optical nanoovals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop a simple assay for the capture and detection of rare cancer cells in whole blood using iron oxide-gold (IO-Au) nanoparticles.
  
  
  METHODS
  IO-Au nanoovals (NOVs) were synthesized, coated with Raman tags and linked with antibodies targeting breast cancer. An integrated system was constructed for on-line magnetic cell capture and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection. The capabilities of IO-Au SERS NOVs to capture and detect rare cancer cells in blood were investigated in the integrated system using circulating tumor cell-mimic SK-BR-3 cells.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SK-BR-3 cells in whole blood were magnetically captured under a flow condition using IO-Au SERS NOVs, followed by on-line SERS detection with a limit of detection of 1-2 cells/ml blood.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We developed a sensitive method that can capture and detect cancer cells in whole blood with a single nanoconstruct, which is highly promising for the detection of circulating tumor cells in the clinic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA.
authors.forename: Saheel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhana
authors.forename: Elise
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chaffin
authors.forename: Yongmei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Sanjay R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.forename: Xiaohua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D001773:Blood Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods*; D058948:Cell Tracking / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D018189:Immunomagnetic Separation / Q000379:methods*; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000473:pathology*; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000379:methods*
keywords: cancer; capture; circulating tumor cell; detection; hybrid nanoparticles; magnetic-optical; surface-enhanced Raman scattering