Simultaneous single-cell phenotype analysis of hepatocellular carcinoma CTCs using a SERS-aptamer based microfluidic chip. Issue 20 (13th August 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gao, Rongke; Zhan, Changbiao; Wu, Chunyu; Lu, Yang; Cao, Baoqiang; Huang, Jing; Wang, Feng; Yu, Liandong
• Is Part Of: Lab on a chip. Volume 21:Issue 20(2021)
• Page Start: 3888
• Page End: 3898
• Publication Date: 2021-08-13
• Subjects: Miniature electronic equipment -- Periodicals; Combinatorial chemistry -- Periodicals; Biotechnology -- Periodicals; 543.0813
• DOI: 10.1039/d1lc00516b
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1473-0197

Abstract

Abstract : A novel SERS-aptamer based microfluidic chip is proposed for simultaneous single-cell phenotype analysis of hepatocellular carcinoma CTCs. Abstract : Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a harmful malady that truly debilitates human health, and hence it is of significance to isolate and on-line profile the phenotype of HCC cells for further diagnosis and therapy. We developed a novel strategy for efficient capture and in situ heterogeneous phenotype analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) at the single-cell level based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) fingerprint characteristics. Herein, a new microfluidic chip with lantern-like bypass structure was designed to capture CTCs by their large size from whole blood. Furthermore, two types of SERS-aptamer nanotags were fabricated, realizing spectral recognition of single CTCs in accordance with the surface membrane protein expression. Up to 84% of CTCs with a purity of 95% were captured from whole blood samples using the present SERS-aptamer based microfluidic chip at 20 μL min −1 . The results showed that the proposed strategy can successfully identify HCC cell subtypes by SERS measurements, which was related to the clinical surface biomarkers. This may open a new avenue for serving as a powerful tool of cancer diagnosis and prognosis evaluation.