Capture of Circulating Tumor Cells by Hydrogel-Nanofiber Substrate

Abstract

The method for detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is considered as a promising cancer liquid biopsy technique. However, due to the rarity and heterogeneity, it is still a challenging task to capture CTC with high purity and viability from blood for the following enumeration and molecular analysis. Herein, we fabricated a hydrogel-chitosan nanofiber substrate to effectively capture the target cancer cells, assisted by the poly(carboxybetaine methacrylate) (pCBMA) hydrogel and the anti-epithelial cell adhesion molecule (anti-EpCAM) antibody. The pCBMA hydrogel layer was fabricated by free radical polymerization to provide an antifouling surface, which could help to reduce the non-specific capture of blood cells to improve the capture purity of CTC. Then, chitosan nanofibers were introduced onto the hydrogel layer to provide a nanostructured surface to improve the capture efficiency. Finally, the capture yield of artificial blood samples on the anti-EpCAM modified hydrogel-nanofiber substrate was up to 79.9%, revealing the potential application of the hydrogel-nanofiber substrate on efficient and sensitive capture of rare circulating tumor cells. A hydrogel-chitosan nanofiber substrate is developed for effective capture of the target cancer cells, assisted by the poly(carboxybetaine methacrylate) (pCBMA) hydrogel to reduce the non-specific capture of blood cells, the chitosan nanofibers to improve the capture efficiency and the anti-epithelial cell adhesion molecule (anti-EpCAM) antibody to achieve the capture specificity.