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A rapid and simple method for efficient capture and accurate discrimination of circulating tumor cells using aptamer conjugated magnetic beads and surface-enhanced Raman scattering imaging

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Abstract

The efficient isolation and the accurate phenotype discrimination of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are expected to provide much valuable information for the understanding of tumor metastasis and to play an important role in personalized treatment of cancer patients in the future. In this study, we developed a novel, rapid, and simple method for efficient capture and accurate identification of CTCs using aptamer conjugated magnetic beads and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) imaging technique. Using aptamer conjugated magnetic beads, rare target cancer cells can be captured efficiently from buffer and whole blood sample with capture efficiency of 73 % and 55 %, respectively. Meanwhile, captured cancer cells were labeled by specific SERS probes and can be identified readily and accurately by SERS imaging technique. Results of our experiment demonstrate the potential feasibility of aptamer conjugated magnetic beads coupled with SERS imaging technique for the efficient capture and accurate discrimination of CTCs in clinical whole blood sample.

Schematic Representation of CTCs Capture and Identification Using Apt-MBs and SERS Imaging

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Basic Research Program of China (Project 2012CB910604), the National High-Tech R&D Program (Project 2012AA020202), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project: 21275034 and 21475027).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China

    Changlong Sun, Ren Zhang, Mingxia Gao & Xiangmin Zhang

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  1. Changlong Sun
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  2. Ren Zhang
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Correspondence to Mingxia Gao.

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Sun, C., Zhang, R., Gao, M. et al. A rapid and simple method for efficient capture and accurate discrimination of circulating tumor cells using aptamer conjugated magnetic beads and surface-enhanced Raman scattering imaging. Anal Bioanal Chem 407, 8883–8892 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-015-9049-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-015-9049-8

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