Immunomagnetic Isolation of HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Cells Using a Microfluidic Device

Abstract

Analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as a tool for monitoring metastatic cancers, early diagnosis, and evaluation of disease prognosis paves the way toward personalized cancer treatment. Developing an effective, feasible, and low-cost method to facilitate CTC isolation is, therefore, vital. In the present study, we integrated magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with microfluidics and used them for the isolation of HER2-positive breast cancer cells. Iron oxide MNPs were synthesized and functionalized with the anti-HER2 antibody. The chemical conjugation was verified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and dynamic light scattering/zeta potential analysis. The specificity of the functionalized NPs for the separation of HER2-positive from HER2-negative cells was demonstrated in an off-chip test setting. The off-chip isolation efficiency was 59.38%. The efficiency of SK-BR-3 cell isolation using a microfluidic chip with a S-shaped microchannel was considerably enhanced to 96% (a flow rate of 0.5 mL/h) without chip clogging. Besides, the analysis time for the on-chip cell separation was 50% faster. The clear advantages of the present microfluidic system offer a competitive solution in clinical applications.

Circulating Tumor Cells as Predictive and Prognostic Biomarkers in Solid Tumors

“…As biological technologies continue to advance, especially with the development of novel nanomaterials and microfluidic systems, several techniques have emerged for the detection of peripheral CTCs in blood [26]. These methodologies can be broadly classified into two primary categories: label-dependent (Table 1) [27][28][29][30] and label-independent detection (Table 2) [31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. [36,37] Abbreviations: NSCLC: non-small-cell lung cancer; CTC: circulating tumor cell.…”