Detection of rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood is a challenging, but necessary, task in order to diagnose early onset of metastatic cancer and to monitor treatment efficacy. Over the last decade, step-up produced aptamers have attracted great attention in clinical diagnosis. They have offered great promise for a broader range of cell-specific recognition and isolation. In particular, aptamer-functionalized magnetic particles for selective extraction of target CTCs have shown reduced damage to cells and relatively simple operation. Also, efforts to develop aptamer-functionalized microchannel/microstructures able to efficiently isolate target CTCs are continuing, and these efforts have brought more advanced geometrically designed substrates. Various aptamer-mediated cell release techniques are being developed to enable subsequent biological studies. This article reviews some of these advances in aptamer-functionalized nano/micro-materials for CTCs isolation and methods for releasing captured CTCs from aptamer-functionalized surfaces. Biological studies of CTCs after release are also discussed.
This paper reports a facile synthesis of molybdenum disulfide nanosheets/silver nanoparticles (MoS2/Ag) hybrid and its use as an effective matrix in negative ion matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). The nanohybrid exerts a strong synergistic effect, leading to high performance detection of small molecule analytes including amino acids, peptides, fatty acids and drugs. The enhancement of laser desorption/ionization (LDI) efficiency is largely attributed to the high surface roughness and large surface area for analyte adsorption, better dispersibility, increased thermal conductivity and enhanced UV energy absorption as compared to pure MoS2. Moreover, both Ag nanoparticles and the edge of the MoS2 layers function as deprotonation sites for proton capture, facilitating the charging process in negative ion mode and promoting formation of negative ions. As a result, the MoS2/Ag nanohybrid proves to be a highly attractive matrix in MALDI-TOF MS, with desired features such as high desorption/ionization efficiency, low fragmentation interference, high salt tolerance, and no sweet-spots for mass signal. These characteristic properties allowed for simultaneous analysis of eight different drugs and quantification of acetylsalicylic acid in the spiked human serum. This work demonstrates for the first time the fabrication and application of a novel MoS2/Ag hybrid, and provides a new platform for use in the rapid and high throughput analysis of small molecules by mass spectrometry.
We fabricated a multifunctional theragnostic agent Ag-Sgc8-FAM for apoptosis-based cancer therapy and fluorescence-enhanced cell imaging. For cancer therapy, aptamers Sgc8 and TDO5 acted as recognizing molecules to bind CCRF-CEM and Ramos cells specifically. It was found that aptamer-silver conjugates (Ag-Sgc8, Ag-TDO5) could be internalized into cells by receptor-mediated endocytosis, inducing specific apoptosis of CCRF-CEM and Ramos cells. The apoptosis of cells depended on the concentration of aptamer-silver conjugates, as well as the incubation time between cells and aptamer-silver conjugates. The apoptotic effects on CCRF-CEM and Ramos cells were different. Annexin V/PI staining, AO/PI staining, MTT assays and ROS (reactive oxygen species) detection demonstrated the specific apoptosis of CCRF-CEM and Ramos cells. For fluorescence-enhanced cell imaging, Ag-Sgc8-FAM was prepared. Compared to Sgc8-FAM molecules, Ag-Sgc8-FAM was an excellent imaging agent as numerous Sgc8-FAM molecules were enriched on the surface of AgNPs for multiple binding with CCRF-CEM cells and signal amplification. Moreover, AgNPs could increase the fluorescence intensity of FAM by metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) effect. Therefore, aptamer-silver conjugates can be potential theragnostic agents for inducing specific apoptosis of cells and achieving cells imaging in real time.
In this work, we demonstrate, for the first time, the development of a disposable MoS-arrayed matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI MS) chip combined with an immunoaffinity enrichment method for high-throughput, rapid, and simultaneous quantitation of multiple sulfonamides (SAs). The disposable MALDI MS chip was designed and fabricated by MoS array formation on a commercial indium tin oxide (ITO) glass slide. A series of SAs were analyzed, and clear deprotonated signals were obtained in negative-ion mode. Compared with MoS-arrayed commercial steel plate, the prepared MALDI MS chip exhibited comparable LDI efficiency, providing a good alternative and disposable substrate for MALDI MS analysis. Furthermore, internal standard (IS) was previously deposited onto the MoS array to simplify the experimental process for MALDI MS quantitation. 96 sample spots could be analyzed within 10 min in one single chip to perform quantitative analysis, recovery studies, and real foodstuff detection. Upon targeted extraction and enrichment by antibody conjugated magnetic beads, five SAs were quantitatively determined by the IS-first method with the linear range of 0.5-10 ng/mL ( R > 0.990). Good recoveries and repeatability were obtained for spiked pork, egg, and milk samples. SAs in several real foodstuffs were successfully identified and quantified. The developed method may provide a promising tool for the routine analysis of antibiotic residues in real samples.
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