Issue 3, 2017

Aptamer-functionalized nano/micro-materials for clinical diagnosis: isolation, release and bioanalysis of circulating tumor cells

Abstract

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.

Graphical abstract: Aptamer-functionalized nano/micro-materials for clinical diagnosis: isolation, release and bioanalysis of circulating tumor cells

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
14 Dec 2016
Accepted
18 Jan 2017
First published
19 Jan 2017

Integr. Biol., 2017,9, 188-205

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