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Visualizing Interactions of Circulating Tumor Cell and Dendritic Cell in the Blood Circulation Using In Vivo Imaging Flow Cytometry
摘要： Objective: Visualizing cell interactions in blood circulation is of great importance in studies of anticancer immunotherapy or drugs. However, the lack of a suitable imaging system hampers progress in this field. Methods: In this work, we built a dual-channel in vivo imaging flow cytometer to visualize the interactions of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and dendritic cells (DCs) simultaneously in the bloodstream. Two artificial neural networks were trained to identify blood vessels and cells in the acquired images. Results and Conclusion: Using this technique, single CTCs and CTC clusters were readily distinguished by their morphology. Interactions of CTCs and DCs were identified, while their moving velocities were analyzed. The CTC-DC clusters moved at a slower velocity than that of single CTCs or DCs. This may provide new insights into tumor metastasis and blood rheology. Significance: This in vivo imaging flow cytometry system holds great potential for assessing the efficiency of targeting CTCs with anticancer immune cells or drugs.
关键词： Cell Interaction,Circulating Tumor Cell,In Vivo Imaging Flow Cytometry,Artificial Neural Network,Dendritic Cell
更新于2025-09-23 15:22:29
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Immunofunctional Photodegradable Poly(ethylene glycol) Hydrogel Surfaces for the Capture and Release of Rare Cells
摘要： Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) play a central role in cancer metastasis and represent a rich source of data for cancer prognostics and therapeutic guidance. Reliable CTC recovery from whole blood therefore promises a less invasive and more sensitive approach to cancer diagnosis and progression tracking. CTCs, however, are exceedingly rare in whole blood, making their quantitative recovery challenging. Several techniques capable of isolating these rare cells have been introduced and validated, yet most suffer from low CTC purity or viability, both of which are essential to develop a clinically viable CTC isolation platform. To address these limitations, we introduce a patterned, immunofunctional, photodegradable poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel capture surface for the isolation and selective release of rare cell populations. Flat and herringbone capture surfaces were successfully patterned via PDMS micromolding and photopolymerization of photolabile PEG hydrogels. Patterned herringbone surfaces, designed to convectively transport cells to the capture surface, exhibited improved capture density relative to flat surfaces for target cell capture from buffer, buffy coat, and whole blood. Uniquely, captured cells were released for collection by degrading the hydrogel capture surface with either bulk or targeted irradiation with cytocompatible doses of long wavelength UV light. Recovered cells remained viable following capture and release and exhibited similar growth rates as untreated control cells. The implementation of molded photodegradable PEG hydrogels as a CTC capture surface provides a micropatternable, cytocompatible platform that imparts the unique ability to recover pure, viable CTC samples by selectively releasing target cells.
关键词： circulating tumor cell,biomaterials,immunocapture,microfluidics
更新于2025-09-23 15:21:01
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Ultra-sensitive fluorescence monitoring and in vivo live imaging of circulating tumor cell-derived miRNAs using molecular beacon system
摘要： Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have considerable clinical significance in cancer progression and prognosis. In this context, CTC-derived microRNAs (miRs) in blood and tissues have been proposed as the novel non-invasive biomarkers for monitoring tumor progression, especially, at the early stages. To monitor circulating miRs, a tool should have high sensitivity, be a simple procedure, and allow detection in very small volumes. Thus, we designed a sensing tool for sensitive monitoring of blood or tissue miRs using a fluorophore-quencher probe-based molecular beacon (MB). This MB-based tool displayed an ultrasensitive limit of detection (LOD) level of 6.7×10–17 M, 8.7×10–17 for metastasis-derived miR-21a, miR-221, respectively. It also can discriminate miR-21a/221 from both guide strand miRs and its precursor forms (pre-miR). Furthermore, the tool discriminated between blood or tissue-related miR-21a/221-expression and detected metastasis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition and also describe a noninvasive miR fluorescence imaging of CTCs in a mouse model, showing a potential for clinical diagnosis and prognosis.
关键词： metastasis,miRNA,epithelial-mesenchymal transition,molecular beacon,ultra-sensitive sensing,circulating tumor cell
更新于2025-09-10 09:29:36