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Geng X, Zhou ZA, Mi Y, Wang C, Wang M, Guo C, Qu C, Feng S, Kim I, Yu M, Ji H, Ren X. Glioma Single-Cell Biomechanical Analysis by Cyclic Conical Constricted Microfluidics. Anal Chem 2023; 95:15585-15594. [PMID: 37843131 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c02434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2023]
Abstract
Determining the grade of glioma is a critical step in choosing patients' treatment plans in clinical practices. The pathological diagnosis of patient's glioma samples requires extensive staining and imaging procedures, which are expensive and time-consuming. Current advanced uniform-width-constriction-channel-based microfluidics have proven to be effective in distinguishing cancer cells from normal tissues, such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, etc. However, the uniform-width-constriction channels can result in low yields on glioma cells with irregular morphologies and high heterogeneity. In this research, we presented an innovative cyclic conical constricted (CCC) microfluidic device to better differentiate glioma cells from normal glial cells. Compared with the widely used uniform-width-constriction microchannels, the new CCC configuration forces single cells to deform gradually and obtains the biophysical attributes from each deformation. The human-derived glioma cell lines U-87 and U-251, as well as the human-derived normal glial astrocyte cell line HA-1800 were selected as the proof of concept. The results showed that CCC channels can effectively obtain the biomechanical characteristics of different 12-25 μm glial cell lines. The patient glioma samples with WHO grades II, III, and IV were tested by CCC channels and compared between Elastic Net (ENet) and Lasso analysis. The results demonstrated that CCC channels and the ENet can successfully select critical biomechanical parameters to differentiate the grades of single-glioma cells. This CCC device can be potentially further applied to the extensive family of brain tumors at the single-cell level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Geng
- Department of Neurosurgery, Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital, The Fifth Clinical Medical College of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030012, China
| | - Zi-Ang Zhou
- Department of Microelectronics, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Yang Mi
- Department of Neurosurgery, Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital, The Fifth Clinical Medical College of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030012, China
| | - Chunhong Wang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital, The Fifth Clinical Medical College of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030012, China
| | - Meng Wang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital, The Fifth Clinical Medical College of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030012, China
| | - Chenjia Guo
- Department of Pathology, Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital, The Fifth Clinical Medical College of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030012, China
| | - Chongxiao Qu
- Department of Pathology, Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital, The Fifth Clinical Medical College of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030012, China
| | - Shilun Feng
- Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China
| | - Inyoung Kim
- Department of Statistics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Miao Yu
- Department of Research and Development, Stedical Scientific, Carlsbad, California 92010, United States
| | - Hongming Ji
- Department of Neurosurgery, Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital, The Fifth Clinical Medical College of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030012, China
| | - Xiang Ren
- Department of Neurosurgery, Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital, The Fifth Clinical Medical College of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030012, China
- Department of Microelectronics, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
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2
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Ly C, Ogana H, Kim HN, Hurwitz S, Deeds EJ, Kim YM, Rowat AC. Altered physical phenotypes of leukemia cells that survive chemotherapy treatment. Integr Biol (Camb) 2023; 15:7185561. [PMID: 37247849 DOI: 10.1093/intbio/zyad006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 04/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/29/2023] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
The recurrence of cancer following chemotherapy treatment is a major cause of death across solid and hematologic cancers. In B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), relapse after initial chemotherapy treatment leads to poor patient outcomes. Here we test the hypothesis that chemotherapy-treated versus control B-ALL cells can be characterized based on cellular physical phenotypes. To quantify physical phenotypes of chemotherapy-treated leukemia cells, we use cells derived from B-ALL patients that are treated for 7 days with a standard multidrug chemotherapy regimen of vincristine, dexamethasone, and L-asparaginase (VDL). We conduct physical phenotyping of VDL-treated versus control cells by tracking the sequential deformations of single cells as they flow through a series of micron-scale constrictions in a microfluidic device; we call this method Quantitative Cyclical Deformability Cytometry. Using automated image analysis, we extract time-dependent features of deforming cells including cell size and transit time (TT) with single-cell resolution. Our findings show that VDL-treated B-ALL cells have faster TTs and transit velocity than control cells, indicating that VDL-treated cells are more deformable. We then test how effectively physical phenotypes can predict the presence of VDL-treated cells in mixed populations of VDL-treated and control cells using machine learning approaches. We find that TT measurements across a series of sequential constrictions can enhance the classification accuracy of VDL-treated cells in mixed populations using a variety of classifiers. Our findings suggest the predictive power of cell physical phenotyping as a complementary prognostic tool to detect the presence of cells that survive chemotherapy treatment. Ultimately such complementary physical phenotyping approaches could guide treatment strategies and therapeutic interventions. Insight box Cancer cells that survive chemotherapy treatment are major contributors to patient relapse, but the ability to predict recurrence remains a challenge. Here we investigate the physical properties of leukemia cells that survive treatment with chemotherapy drugs by deforming individual cells through a series of micron-scale constrictions in a microfluidic channel. Our findings reveal that leukemia cells that survive chemotherapy treatment are more deformable than control cells. We further show that machine learning algorithms applied to physical phenotyping data can predict the presence of cells that survive chemotherapy treatment in a mixed population. Such an integrated approach using physical phenotyping and machine learning could be valuable to guide patient treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chau Ly
- Department of Integrative Biology & Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Heather Ogana
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Hye Na Kim
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Samantha Hurwitz
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Eric J Deeds
- Department of Integrative Biology & Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Institute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Yong-Mi Kim
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Amy C Rowat
- Department of Integrative Biology & Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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3
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Saffari H, Hajiaghalou S, Hajari MA, Gourabi H, Fathi D, Fathi R. Design and fabrication of aspiration microfluidic channel for oocyte characterization. Talanta 2023; 254:124098. [PMID: 36462279 DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2022.124098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2022] [Revised: 11/05/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The development potential for oocytes can be predicted by their mechanical properties. One important parameter that is measured to calculate oocyte hardness is Cortical Tension (CT). In this work, for the first time, we present the design, simulation, and fabrication of a new aspiration microfluidic chip to measure the CT of oocytes and then predict their maturation capability in the Germinal Vesicle (GV) stage. This high-performance technique facilitates oocyte characterization and is a promising alternative to traditional methods such as MicroPipette Aspiration (MPA). The proposed technique involves considerably simpler operation, less specialized equipment, and less technical skill than MPA. The proposed microfluidic channel also promises faster measurements. It is shown that in order to completely continue the growth process of oocytes in GV stage, the CT should be in a certain range: very low or very high CTs lead to unsuccessful growth. The obtained results show that 79% of oocytes with the CT between 1.5 and 3 nN/μm reach the Metaphase II (MII) stage, whereas the growth for 78% of oocytes with the CT less than 1.5 nN/μm or higher than 3 nN/μm stops at the GV or Germinal Vesicle Break Down (GVBD) stages. Another property, kvis, that points to the viscous behavior of oocytes is also measured. It is seen that 80% of GV oocytes with the kvis values between 15 and 30 k Pa s/m reach the MII stage.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Saffari
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University (TMU), Tehran, Iran
| | - S Hajiaghalou
- Department of Embryology, Reproductive Biomedicine Research Center, Royan Institute for Reproductive Biomedicine, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
| | - M A Hajari
- Department of Cell Engineering, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Reproductive Biomedicine, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
| | - H Gourabi
- Department of Genetics, Reproductive Biomedicine Research Center, Royan Institute for Reproductive Biomedicine, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
| | - D Fathi
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University (TMU), Tehran, Iran.
| | - R Fathi
- Department of Embryology, Reproductive Biomedicine Research Center, Royan Institute for Reproductive Biomedicine, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.
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Hu S, Liu T, Xue C, Li Y, Yang Y, Xu X, Liu B, Chen X, Zhao Y, Qin K. A high-throughput microfluidic device inspired by the Wheatstone bridge principle for characterizing the mechanical properties of single cells. ANALYTICAL METHODS : ADVANCING METHODS AND APPLICATIONS 2022; 14:4813-4821. [PMID: 36382629 DOI: 10.1039/d2ay01416e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The mechanical properties of single cells have been recognized as biomarkers for identifying individual cells and diagnosing human diseases. Microfluidic devices based on the flow cytometry principle, which are not limited by the vision field of a microscope and can achieve a very high throughput, have been extensively adopted to measure the mechanical properties of single cells. However, these kinds of microfluidic devices usually required pressure-driven pumps with a very low flow rate and high precision. In this study, we developed a high-throughput microfluidic device inspired by the Wheatstone bridge principle for characterizing the mechanical properties of single cells. The microfluidic analogue of the Wheatstone bridge not only took advantage of flow cytometry, but also allowed precise control of a very low flow rate through the constricted channel with a higher input flow rate generated by a commercially available pressure-driven pump. Under different input flow rates of the pump, the apparent elastic moduli and the fluidity of osteosarcoma (U-2OS) cells and cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cells were measured by monitoring their dynamic deformations passing through the bridge-channel with different sizes of rectangular constrictions. The results showed that the input flow rate had little effect on measuring the mechanical properties of the cells, while the ratio of cell radius to effective constriction radius was different, i.e., for U-2OS cells it was 1.20 and for HeLa cells it was 1.09. Under this condition compared with predecessors, our statistic results of cell mechanical properties exhibited minimal errors. Furthermore, the cell viability after measurements was kept above 90% that demonstrated the non-destructive property of our proposed method.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siyu Hu
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, Liaoning Province, China
| | - Tianmian Liu
- DUT-BSU Joint Institute, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, Liaoning Province, China
| | - Chundong Xue
- School of Optoelectronic Engineering and Instrumentation Science, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, Liaoning Province, China.
| | - Yongjiang Li
- School of Optoelectronic Engineering and Instrumentation Science, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, Liaoning Province, China.
| | - Yunong Yang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, Liaoning Province, China
| | - Xing Xu
- Department of Endoscopy, Liaoning Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shenyang, 110042, Liaoning Province, China
| | - Bo Liu
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, Liaoning Province, China
| | - Xiaoming Chen
- School of Optoelectronic Engineering and Instrumentation Science, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, Liaoning Province, China.
| | - Yan Zhao
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, Liaoning Province, China
- Department of Gastric Cancer, Liaoning Cancer Hospital and Institute, Cancer Hospital of Dalian University of Technology, Shenyang, 110042, Liaoning Province, China
| | - Kairong Qin
- School of Optoelectronic Engineering and Instrumentation Science, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, Liaoning Province, China.
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, Liaoning Province, China
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5
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Detection of circulating tumor cells: opportunities and challenges. Biomark Res 2022; 10:58. [PMID: 35962400 PMCID: PMC9375360 DOI: 10.1186/s40364-022-00403-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2022] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cells that shed from a primary tumor and travel through the bloodstream. Studying the functional and molecular characteristics of CTCs may provide in-depth knowledge regarding highly lethal tumor diseases. Researchers are working to design devices and develop analytical methods that can capture and detect CTCs in whole blood from cancer patients with improved sensitivity and specificity. Techniques using whole blood samples utilize physical prosperity, immunoaffinity or a combination of the above methods and positive and negative enrichment during separation. Further analysis of CTCs is helpful in cancer monitoring, efficacy evaluation and designing of targeted cancer treatment methods. Although many advances have been achieved in the detection and molecular characterization of CTCs, several challenges still exist that limit the current use of this burgeoning diagnostic approach. In this review, a brief summary of the biological characterization of CTCs is presented. We focus on the current existing CTC detection methods and the potential clinical implications and challenges of CTCs. We also put forward our own views regarding the future development direction of CTCs.
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6
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Graybill PM, Bollineni RK, Sheng Z, Davalos RV, Mirzaeifar R. A constriction channel analysis of astrocytoma stiffness and disease progression. BIOMICROFLUIDICS 2021; 15:024103. [PMID: 33763160 PMCID: PMC7968935 DOI: 10.1063/5.0040283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Studies have demonstrated that cancer cells tend to have reduced stiffness (Young's modulus) compared to their healthy counterparts. The mechanical properties of primary brain cancer cells, however, have remained largely unstudied. To investigate whether the stiffness of primary brain cancer cells decreases as malignancy increases, we used a microfluidic constriction channel device to deform healthy astrocytes and astrocytoma cells of grade II, III, and IV and measured the entry time, transit time, and elongation. Calculating cell stiffness directly from the experimental measurements is not possible. To overcome this challenge, finite element simulations of the cell entry into the constriction channel were used to train a neural network to calculate the stiffness of the analyzed cells based on their experimentally measured diameter, entry time, and elongation in the channel. Our study provides the first calculation of stiffness for grades II and III astrocytoma and is the first to apply a neural network analysis to determine cell mechanical properties from a constriction channel device. Our results suggest that the stiffness of astrocytoma cells is not well-correlated with the cell grade. Furthermore, while other non-central-nervous-system cell types typically show reduced stiffness of malignant cells, we found that most astrocytoma cell lines had increased stiffness compared to healthy astrocytes, with lower-grade astrocytoma having higher stiffness values than grade IV glioblastoma. Differences in nucleus-to-cytoplasm ratio only partly explain differences in stiffness values. Although our study does have limitations, our results do not show a strong correlation of stiffness with cell grade, suggesting that other factors may play important roles in determining the invasive capability of astrocytoma. Future studies are warranted to further elucidate the mechanical properties of astrocytoma across various pathological grades.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - R. K. Bollineni
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA
| | - Z. Sheng
- Department of Internal Medicine, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Virginia Tech Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, Roanoke, Virginia 24016, USA
| | - R. V. Davalos
- Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed: and
| | - R. Mirzaeifar
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA
- Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed: and
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7
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Ghassemi P, Harris KS, Ren X, Foster BM, Langefeld CD, Kerr BA, Agah M. Comparative Study of Prostate Cancer Biophysical and Migratory Characteristics via Iterative Mechanoelectrical Properties (iMEP) and Standard Migration Assays. SENSORS AND ACTUATORS. B, CHEMICAL 2020; 321:128522. [PMID: 32863589 PMCID: PMC7455013 DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2020.128522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
This study reveals a new microfluidic biosensor consisting of a multi-constriction microfluidic device with embedded electrodes for measuring the biophysical attributes of single cells. The biosensing platform called the iterative mechano-electrical properties (iMEP) analyzer captures electronic records of biomechanical and bioelectrical properties of cells. The iMEP assay is used in conjunction with standard migration assays, such as chemotaxis-based Boyden chamber and scratch wound healing assays, to evaluate the migratory behavior and biophysical properties of prostate cancer cells. The three cell lines evaluated in the study each represent a stage in the standard progression of prostate cancer, while the fourth cell line serves as a normal/healthy counterpart. Neither the scratch assay nor the chemotaxis assay could fully differentiate the four cell lines. Furthermore, there was not a direct correlation between wound healing rate or the migratory rate with the cells' metastatic potential. However, the iMEP assay, through its multiparametric dataset, could distinguish between all four cell line populations with p-value < 0.05. Further studies are needed to determine if iMEP signatures can be used for a wider range of human cells to assess the tumorigenicity of a cell population or the metastatic potential of cancer cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Parham Ghassemi
- The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Koran S. Harris
- Department of Cancer Biology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, United States
| | - Xiang Ren
- The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Brittni M. Foster
- Department of Cancer Biology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, United States
| | - Carl D. Langefeld
- Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27157, United States
| | - Bethany A. Kerr
- Department of Cancer Biology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, United States
| | - Masoud Agah
- The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
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8
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Ghassemi P, Ren X, Foster BM, Kerr BA, Agah M. Post-enrichment circulating tumor cell detection and enumeration via deformability impedance cytometry. Biosens Bioelectron 2020; 150:111868. [PMID: 31767345 PMCID: PMC6957725 DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2019.111868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2019] [Revised: 11/07/2019] [Accepted: 11/08/2019] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in blood can provide valuable information when detecting, diagnosing, and monitoring cancer. This paper describes a system that consists of a constriction-based microfluidic sensor with embedded electrodes that can detect and enumerate cancer cells in blood. The biosensor measures impedance in terms of magnitude and phase at multiple frequencies as cells transit through the constriction channel. Cancer cells deform as they move through while blood cells remain intact, thus generating differential impedance profiles that can be used for detecting and counting CTCs. Two versions of this device are reported, one where the electrodes are embedded into the disposable microfluidic channel, and the other in which the disposable chip is externally fixed to a reusable substrate housing the electrodes. Both configurations were tested by spiking breast or prostate cancer cells into murine blood, and both detected all tumor cells passing through the narrow channels while being able to differentiate between the two cell lines. The chip in its current format has a throughput of 1 μL/min. While the throughput is scalable by integrating more constriction channels in parallel, the presented assay is intended for post-enrichment label-free enumeration and characterization of CTCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Parham Ghassemi
- The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, United States.
| | - Xiang Ren
- The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, United States.
| | - Brittni M Foster
- Department of Cancer Biology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157, United States.
| | - Bethany A Kerr
- Department of Cancer Biology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157, United States.
| | - Masoud Agah
- The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, United States.
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Ren X, Ghassemi P, Strobl JS, Agah M. Biophysical phenotyping of cells via impedance spectroscopy in parallel cyclic deformability channels. BIOMICROFLUIDICS 2019; 13:044103. [PMID: 31341524 PMCID: PMC6639115 DOI: 10.1063/1.5099269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2019] [Accepted: 07/09/2019] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
This paper describes a new microfluidic biosensor with capabilities of studying single cell biophysical properties. The chip contains four parallel sensing channels, where each channel includes two constriction regions separated by a relaxation region. All channels share a pair of electrodes to record the electrical impedance. Single cell impedance magnitudes and phases at different frequencies were obtained. The deformation and transition time information of cells passing through two sequential constriction regions were gained from the time points on impedance magnitude variations. Constriction channels separated by relaxation regions have been proven to improve the sensitivity of distinguishing single cells. The relaxation region between two sequential constriction channels provides extra time stamps that can be identified in the impedance plots. The new chip allows simultaneous measurement of the biophysical attributes of multiple cells in different channels, thereby increasing the overall throughput of the chip. Using the biomechanical parameters represented by the time stamps in the impedance results, breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) and the normal epithelial cells (MCF-10A) could be distinguished by 85%. The prediction accuracy at the single-cell level reached 97% when both biomechanical and bioelectrical parameters were utilized. While the new label-free assay has been tested to distinguish between normal and cancer cells, its application can be extended to include cell-drug interactions and circulating tumor cell detection in blood.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Masoud Agah
- Author to whom correspondence should be addressed:. Telephone: (540) 231-2653
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10
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Ren X, Ghassemi P, Kanaan YM, Naab T, Copeland RL, Dewitty RL, Kim I, Strobl JS, Agah M. Kernel-Based Microfluidic Constriction Assay for Tumor Sample Identification. ACS Sens 2018; 3:1510-1521. [PMID: 29979037 DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.8b00301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
A high-throughput multiconstriction microfluidic channels device can distinguish human breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231, HCC-1806, MCF-7) from immortalized breast cells (MCF-10A) with a confidence level of ∼81-85% at a rate of 50-70 cells/min based on velocity increment differences through multiconstriction channels aligned in series. The results are likely related to the deformability differences between nonmalignant and malignant breast cells. The data were analyzed by the methods/algorithms of Ridge, nonnegative garrote on kernel machine (NGK), and Lasso using high-dimensional variables, including the cell sizes, velocities, and velocity increments. In kernel learning based methods, the prediction values of 10-fold cross-validations are used to represent the difference between two groups of data, where a value of 100% indicates the two groups are completely distinct and identifiable. The prediction value is used to represent the difference between two groups using the established algorithm classifier from high-dimensional variables. These methods were applied to heterogeneous cell populations prepared using primary tumor and adjacent normal tissue obtained from two patients. Primary breast cancer cells were distinguished from patient-matched adjacent normal cells with a prediction ratio of 70.07%-75.96% by the NGK method. Thus, this high-throughput multiconstriction microfluidic device together with the kernel learning method can be used to perturb and analyze the biomechanical status of cells obtained from small primary tumor biopsy samples. The resultant biomechanical velocity signatures identify malignancy and provide a new marker for evaluation in risk assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiang Ren
- The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Parham Ghassemi
- The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | | | | | | | - Robert L. Dewitty
- Howard University
Hospital, Providence Hospital, Washington, DC 20017, United States
| | - Inyoung Kim
- Department of Statistics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Jeannine S. Strobl
- The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Masoud Agah
- The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
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Burinaru TA, Avram M, Avram A, Mărculescu C, Ţîncu B, Ţucureanu V, Matei A, Militaru M. Detection of Circulating Tumor Cells Using Microfluidics. ACS COMBINATORIAL SCIENCE 2018; 20:107-126. [PMID: 29363937 DOI: 10.1021/acscombsci.7b00146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Metastasis is the main cause of death in cancer patients worldwide. During metastasis, cancer cells detach from the primary tumor and invade distant tissue. The cells that undergo this process are called circulating tumor cells (CTCs). Studies show that the number of CTCs in the peripheral blood can predict progression-free survival and overall survival and can be informative concerning the efficacy of treatment. Research is now concentrated on developing devices that can detect CTCs in the blood of cancer patients with improved sensitivity and specificity that can lead to improved clinical evaluation. This review focuses on devices that detect and capture CTCs using different cell properties (surface markers, size, deformability, electrical properties, etc.). We also discuss the process of tumor cell dissemination, the biology of CTCs, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and several challenges and clinical applications of CTC detection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiberiu A. Burinaru
- National Institute for R&D in Microtechnologies, IMT-Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania, 077190
| | - Marioara Avram
- National Institute for R&D in Microtechnologies, IMT-Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania, 077190
| | - Andrei Avram
- National Institute for R&D in Microtechnologies, IMT-Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania, 077190
| | - Cătălin Mărculescu
- National Institute for R&D in Microtechnologies, IMT-Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania, 077190
| | - Bianca Ţîncu
- National Institute for R&D in Microtechnologies, IMT-Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania, 077190
| | - Vasilica Ţucureanu
- National Institute for R&D in Microtechnologies, IMT-Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania, 077190
| | - Alina Matei
- National Institute for R&D in Microtechnologies, IMT-Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania, 077190
| | - Manuella Militaru
- University of Agronomic
Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Bucharest, Romania, 050097
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Ren X, Ghassemi P, Babahosseini H, Strobl JS, Agah M. Single-Cell Mechanical Characteristics Analyzed by Multiconstriction Microfluidic Channels. ACS Sens 2017; 2:290-299. [PMID: 28723132 DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.6b00823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
A microfluidic device composed of variable numbers of multiconstriction channels is reported in this paper to differentiate a human breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231, and a nontumorigenic human breast cell line, MCF-10A. Differences between their mechanical properties were assessed by comparing the effect of single or multiple relaxations on their velocity profiles which is a novel measure of their deformation ability. Videos of the cells were recorded via a microscope using a smartphone, and imported to a tracking software to gain the position information on the cells. Our results indicated that a multiconstriction channel design with five deformation (50 μm in length, 10 μm in width, and 8 μm in height) separated by four relaxation (50 μm in length, 40 μm in width, and 30 μm in height) regions was superior to a single deformation design in differentiating MDA-MB-231 and MCF-10A cells. Velocity profile criteria can achieve a differentiation accuracy around 95% for both MDA-MB-231 and MCF-10A cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiang Ren
- The Bradley Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Parham Ghassemi
- The Bradley Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Hesam Babahosseini
- The Bradley Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Jeannine S. Strobl
- The Bradley Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Masoud Agah
- The Bradley Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
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