Enhancement of Capture Sensitivity for Circulating Tumor Cells in a Breast Cancer Patient's Blood by Silicon Nanowire Platform

Abstract

The separation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from the blood of cancer patients with high sensitivity is an essential technique for selecting chemotherapeutic agents at a patient-by-patient level. Recently, various research groups have reported a nanostructure-based platform for rare cell capture due to its high surface area and 3D nanotopographic features. However, evaluation of capture sensitivity based on chemical modification of the nanostructure surface has not yet been performed. Here, we evaluated the capture sensitivity for CTCs from the blood of three patients diagnosed with stage IV metastatic breast cancer by using the following three platforms: streptavidin-conjugated silicon nanowire (STR-SiNW), poly-l-lysine-coated silicon nanowire (PLL-SiNW), and poly-l-lysine-coated glass (PLL-glass). The number of evaluated CTCs on STR-SiNW, PLL-SiNW, and PLL-glass were 16.2 ± 5.5 cells, 7.3 ± 2.9 cells, and 4.7 ± 1.5 cells, respectively, per 0.5 ml. Therefore, we suggest that the STR-SiNW platform is highly adaptable for the quantitative evaluation of CTCs from the blood of cancer patients in the clinical setting.

Nanomedicine applications in women's health: state of the art

“…The streptavidin-conjugated silicon nanowire was shown to identify 16.2±5.5 cells per 0.5 mL of whole blood. 131 Dual aptamer-modified silica NPs have also been developed which target two cell lines, mucin 1 and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (EGRF2). This system will allow for the identification of two different types of breast cancer cells, thus enabling a broader range of diagnosis.…”

Functionalized vertical GaN micro pillar arrays with high signal-to-background ratio for detection and analysis of proteins secreted from breast tumor cells

“…These reports suggested that graphene-based materials and transition metal dichalcogenides are promising candidates for fabricating ultra-sensitive biosensors owing to their excellent conductivity 15 , 30 , high affinity to biomolecules 31 – 34 , and simple fabrication process of large-scale circuits. Moreover, 3D-based nanomaterials, including silicon nanowires 35 , 36 , quartz nanowires 1 , and TiO 2 nanofibres 37 , have been used to capture CTCs, obtaining an excellent separation efficiency of >93% owing to an enhanced contact probability with biomolecules achieved by their high aspect ratios and contact areas.…”