Efficient Isolation of Circulating Tumor Cells Using Ultra-Convenient Substrates Based on Self-Assembled Hollow MnO2 Nanoparticles

Abstract

An efficient and active sorting platform of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is still a challenge in clinical research. In this paper, we design a novel system based on hollow MnO2 nanoparticles for the capture and release of CTCs. Using the self-assembly method, we prepared rough MnO2 nanomaterial substrates that provide more binding sites for antibody grafting, increase the contact probability between cells and materials and improve the capture efficiency. The highest capture efficiency was 83.2% under the incubation time of 120 min. The MnO2 nanosubstrate was dissolved by employing a 2 × 10−3 M concentration of oxalic acid to release the captured cells. The cell release efficiency was up to 91.46% with a reaction time of 60 s. The released cells had a strong ability to proliferate after being collected and re-cultured for 24 h. Identifying and counting CTCs from the peripheral blood of breast cancer patients through the three-color immunocytochemistry method proved the effectiveness of our design platform. Such a simple and economical approach provides a promising platform for the capture and release of cells in clinical research.