Deterministic Capture of Individual Circulating Tumor Cells Using a Flow-Restricted Microfluidic Trap Array
Yousang Yoon,
Jusin Lee,
Ki-Chun Yoo,
Onejae Sul,
Su-Jae Lee,
Seung-Beck Lee
Affiliations
Yousang Yoon
Department of Electronic Engineering, Hanyang Universtiy College of Engineering, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 04763, Korea
Jusin Lee
Department of Electronic Engineering, Hanyang Universtiy College of Engineering, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 04763, Korea
Ki-Chun Yoo
Department of Life Science and Research Institute for Natural Sciences, Hanyang Universtiy College of Natural Sciences, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 04763, Korea
Onejae Sul
Institute of Nano Science and Technology, Hanyang Universtiy, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 04763, Korea
Su-Jae Lee
Department of Life Science and Research Institute for Natural Sciences, Hanyang Universtiy College of Natural Sciences, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 04763, Korea
Seung-Beck Lee
Department of Electronic Engineering, Hanyang Universtiy College of Engineering, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 04763, Korea
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are regarded as a strong biomarker which includes clinically valuable information. However, CTCs are very rare and require precise separation and detection for effective clinical applications. Furthermore, downstream analysis has become necessary to identify the distinct sub-population of CTCs that causes metastasis. Here, we report a flow-restricted microfluidic trap array capable of deterministic single-cell capture of CTCs. The extent of flow restriction, correlating with the device geometry, was then optimized using a highly invasive breast cancer cell line (LM2 MDA-MB-231) to achieve 97% capture efficiency with a single-cell capture rate of 99%. Single-cell capture of CTCs from mice with full-blown metastasis was also demonstrated. The single-CTC capturing ability of the flow-restricted trap array not only showed cell enumerating ability but also high prospects for application in future automated downstream analysis.
