title: In vitro detection of human breast cancer cells (SK-BR3) using herceptin-conjugated liquid crystal microdroplets as a sensing platform.
abstract: The present study utilizes antibody-protein interactions to develop an LC microdroplet based biosensor for naked eye detection of SK-BR3 human breast cancer cells. The herceptin antibody-conjugated LC microdroplets were fabricated using 4-cyano-4'-pentyl biphenyl (5CB) as the liquid crystalline phase and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as the surfactant. The poly (styrene-b-acrylic acid) amphiphilic block copolymer (PS-b-PA) played a role as a modifier for the liquid crystalline interfaces. The 5CB molecules in the herceptin antibody-conjugated LC microdroplets have shown an orientation transition from radial to bipolar on selective interactions with targeted SK-BR3 breast cancer cells, which are over expressed by the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive (HER2). The herceptin antibody-conjugated LC microdroplets are found to be highly selective in the detection of SK-BR3 cancer cells in the presence of control cells, such as KB cancer cells and fibroblast (FB), and also in the presence of 10% human blood plasma. The interaction forces of the SK-BR3 cancer cells were only effective in causing orientation transitions in 5CB molecules in the LC microdroplets, which clearly suggested that the herceptin antibody-conjugated LC microdroplets could be used as a selective biosensor for a real-time detection of SK-BR3 cancer cells in biological fluids.
authors.affiliation: Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 80, Daehak-ro, Buk-gu, Daegu 702-701, South Korea. ikkang@knu.ac.kr psy@knu.ac.kr wangding0420@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Wang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Kailash Chandra
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Soo-Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Young-Kyoo
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Inn-Kyu
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Kang
mesh_terms: D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry*; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000068878:Trastuzumab / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D000068878:Trastuzumab; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human